You Were Everything
by Living Masquerade
Summary: Marilyn and Paul were best friends who hadn't seen each other since they were 15. What happens when ten years later Marilyn moves back to La Push and wants to have a friendship with Paul again? Paul/OC
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I don't own! Song credit to All Time Low

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"_Tonight we lie awake, _

_remember how the coffee made us shake_

_on those long drives for one more long night."_

**Vegas

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The first time I met Paul Noels was the best day of my life. I was five years old and my parents had finally decided it was time to bring me and my younger sister back to the place where they had been raised. We had lived in the city for the first five years of my life and away from the freedom of the tight knit community on the rez. That's why I was so excited as I bounded out of my parents dependable Ford Taurus and into my Grams' arms.

At five years old I was pretty sure that my sister and I were the only kids my Grandparents loved, or could love, considering the fact that my Dad had no siblings but after I pulled away from Grams I saw a little boy walk out of the house holding what appeared to be a stuffed dinosaur…a T-Rex to be exact. The same T-Rex I had been begging my parents to get me for weeks but because I was a little girl was not allowed to have. Instead I got the new Barbie that my sister had commandeered. It was in that moment, as I walked over to the little boy shyly, that I realized that this could be the start of a beautiful friendship.

Ten years later, and I knew without a doubt that asking to hold his T-Rex was the best decision of my life. At fifteen years old, not only did I know Paul Noels was my best friend but I had the biggest crush on him. In fact, I would say I was in love with him. Of course he had no idea.

The last time I saw Paul Noels was the last day of our freshman year of high school. The same day my parents were taking my sister and I back into the city to a better high school with a better chance of me making it into college afterward. I was devastated, my sister was mildly upset and Paul was beside himself. Although I wasn't sure why he was as upset as he was; to him I thought we were nothing but good friends. But when he pulled me aside after the last bell rang and carelessly pressed his lips down onto mine I knew that he had felt the same way as I had all this time. So I left him with a smile and his T-Rex that he had let me keep for ten years.

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**Present Day (Ten years later)**

After ten years I was finally back in La Push and just as excited as I was twenty years ago. My face was pressed to the glass as my husband drove through town in the direction of my Grandparent's house. I already knew it wasn't going to be the same. Buck had died and only Grams was left to greet us today but that was the whole reason I had convinced Finn to move here in the first place.

Buck had died a few months ago, leaving my eighty year old Grandmother alone for the first time in about forty years. With my parents gone half way around the world most of the time, I knew it was left to me to care for Grams and I couldn't be happier about it. I had missed her a lot over the past ten years and although I had seen her at least three times a year, it hadn't ever been enough.

"You look like a little kid over there pressed up against the glass, Mar." Finn chuckled.

I looked over at him with a grin, "I feel like a little kid again. Yet again let me say how much I love you for agreeing to move in with Grams."

Finn smiled, "It's not like I have to stay in one location for my job."

That was true. My husband, Finn Donnelly, was a technical writer. Companies e mailed him information about their products and he produced the manuals used to help people figure out their shit. It was how we met actually; his agent was best friends with mine. I also didn't need to live in one specific place; I was a writer too; a fiction writer. I operated under a pen name that only Finn, Grams and my agent knew about. Everyone else, baby sister included, was out of luck.

As we made the short drive through town I happened to glance out the window just in time to see us pass by 'Noel's one stop shop'; the store Paul's Grandparents had owned since the 1950's and had passed down to his Father back in the 80's. I was happy to see it was still open and occupied by a whole group of large local guys.

"Did I ever tell you about the first time I met Paul?" I asked with a nostalgic smile.

"The T-Rex story of your first love?" Finn chuckled.

"Yes, and it really wasn't a first love…we only kissed once and it was a goodbye kiss."

"Does he still live around here?"

"Well, his parent's store is still in business, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything." I shrugged.

I honestly did not know much about Paul anymore. For the first year after the move we had stayed in constant communication that had slowly dwindled down to nothing as the years passed by. Occasionally Grams would have something to say about her favorite boy but lately she hadn't had much to say about him. Maybe he had left.

"I take it this is it if the huge 'Jameson' on the mailbox is any indication." Finn stated as he turned into Buck and Grams' house.

Anyone looking my way would have been blinded by the million watt smile I was sporting, but I was oblivious to everything as I unbuckled my seatbelt and launched myself out of our car and up the porch steps into Grams' arms.

"Marilyn, you look so beautiful." Grams smiled as she pulled away to inspect me.

"I look the same as I did last time you saw me, Grams." I smiled back as I Finn walked up behind me and opened his arms to Grams. She smiled at him before she pulled him into a brief hug followed by an inspection of his person. After declaring that he was handsome she led us inside where a huge bowl of grape salad sat waiting for us at the dining room table.

I turned and grinned at Grams before I dove into the grape salad hungrily, moaning as the sour cream and cream cheese sauce hit my tongue. How I had missed this. There were days when Paul and I would devour the entire bowl together; we always regretted it an hour later when our stomachs hurt but never while it was going down.

"I remember when you and Paul would sit there and eat that whole bowl between the two of you." Grams smiled. "I still haven't forgiven that boy for puking on my favorite chair."

"Is he still around, Grams?" I asked through a mouthful of grapes.

Grams quirked an eyebrow at my un-lady like behavior but answered the question anyway as Finn scooped himself some of the salad, "Of course he is. His parents just gave the store to him. In fact, he comes around almost every day to check on me and make sure everything is running well here."

"Really?" Finn asked curiously.

Grams nodded and I replied, "Paul's Grandparents died when he was a baby and because Buck and Grams were best friends with his Grandparents they took him under their wing and treated him as one of their own."

"Wow." Finn sighed.

"I wish I could have been here to do that for you Grams."

"I'm glad you weren't, Marilyn. Nothing makes me happier than to know you got your college education and have a thriving writing career."

I smiled, "Which is supposed to be a secret."

"I haven't told anyone and I'm not going to. Now, when is the truck with your stuff going to get here? I had Paul help me move all my stuff out of the master bedroom and into the bedroom down the hall."

"Grams you didn't have to do that." I protested feeling my love for my Grandma grow even more if that was even possible.

"Yes, I did. You two are a married couple and deserve a larger room."

"Thanks Grams and the truck is supposed to arrive tomorrow."

"Good, I'll have Paul and some of his friends come over to help you guys move your stuff into the house."

My ears perked up at that; I really wanted to see Paul and hopefully start up a friendship again. Even after making many new friends in high school and college, I knew that Paul was the best friend I was ever going to have and I wanted some of that back. Of course I wasn't stupid enough to think that it would be exactly the same.

"Finn, could you bring in our bags and take them upstairs before it gets dark?" I asked sweetly looking over to where my husband sat shoveling the last of his grape salad into his mouth.

"Sure."

Once he was out of the house, Grams turned to me a grin. "Now what's in store for your next book?"

"I'm not sure yet. I haven't been struck with inspiration lately which is okay since I just put a book out. Actually, right now I'm focusing on something else."

"What's that?" Grams asked curiously.

"Finn and I are trying to have a baby."

"Really?"

I nodded with a smile, "We just started trying a few months ago and so far nothing has happened, but I already knew this was going to take a while. You don't mind do you?"

"Why would I mind?"

"Well, if I do get pregnant and we have a baby there will be a loud demanding baby in the house."

"Sounds wonderful to me." Grams smiled.

"I love you."

"I love you too, Marilyn."

Xxx

The first night sleeping in what had been Buck and Grams' bed was a little awkward. Finn seemed oblivious to it all as he snored away beside me, his bony arms flung out across the pillows. He didn't like to cuddle when he slept and I usually tended to keep my distance considering that I had been punched in the face from one of his flailing limbs on our wedding night.

I had to get past the awkwardness though, because Finn and I were in the baby making business at the moment and that meant having sex in my Grandparent's bed. I wrinkled up my face at the thought and thanked God that Finn and I were having our own mattress delivered tomorrow.

I sighed heavily, rolled over and tried yet again to fall asleep. After a few minutes of laying there in annoyance I finally got out of bed and walked out of the room, not too concerned if I made too much noise. Finn was the heaviest sleeper I had met in my life. Seriously, he had to set four alarms and have me shake him awake in order to wake him up.

The house was quiet and dark as I made my way downstairs and into the living room where I curled up into Buck's chair. I turned my head into the upholstery and sniffed deeply; it smelled of gasoline and oil just like him, but only barely. My eyes welled up at the memories his smell brought to mind; the rides in his huge van full of tools that smelled of gasoline and oil, with people passing us on the road because he drove slow. I let out a little chuckle as I remembered the day I actually counted how many people passed us on the way to Forks.

I wiped the few tears I had shed away and glanced up at the mantle where Buck and Grams' wedding picture sat in the middle surrounded by my parent's wedding picture and my own. I was still looking as Grams approached and looked up at the pictures as well.

"He was very proud of you, Marilyn." She whispered.

"I know."

"He told me just a few days before he died that his favorite book of yours was your very first."

"Really? I've always thought that was my worst."

"It is, but that's why he liked it so well, Marilyn. Because you didn't let that stop you from trying again and succeeding. That's what truly made him proud of you, not how many books you sold."

I nodded, unable to say anything otherwise I would start crying again and I didn't want to do that in front of Grams. I didn't want her to see me so sad about it even though I knew she wouldn't mind. I guess I was sick of crying about it because it wasn't going to change anything anyway.

"Thanks Grams. Thank you for letting us move in."

"You're welcome."

Xxx

Jamie Jameson sure could be loud when she wanted to. I loved my little sister, but at the moment I wanted nothing more to hang op on her. Was it my problem that our globetrotting parents hadn't paid her grad school bill? No, especially when I had been told I had to pay for grad school by myself if I wanted to attend.

"Jamie you're twenty two years old, you should be able to handle this yourself. How big is the bill anyway? Don't you have enough in your savings to pay?"

Jamie sighed loudly, "That's their job; they told me they wanted to pay for it. Meanwhile they're off gallivanting around the world spending all of their money."

"Maybe you should just pay for it yourself."

"I'd have to get another job and I don't have time for another job, Mar!"

"You are so spoiled, Jamie. Listen; just to shut you up I'll pay the bill this time since your student status is in jeopardy. But next time you have to figure it out on your own. And I'm serious, you should think about doing this yourself."

She sighed again, "Alright. Thanks Mar, I really appreciate it. Tell Finn and Grams I say hi."

And with that she hung up. That right there was the result of my parent's laziness. After raising me the way Buck and Grams considered the 'right' way they had decided it wasn't worth their while the second time around and raised my sister the opposite way I had been raised. While I had been forced to get a job at the age of sixteen, Miss Jamie had gotten her first car bought for her.

I tried not to hold it against Jamie, it wasn't her fault she was a brat. It was my parent's fault; they were lazy and liked to act like they didn't have responsibilities. That was why after Buck died Finn and I had tied up all his loose ends so Grams didn't have to worry about it; a job that my Father should have done considering it was his Father that had died.

"Looks like you just got done talking to Jamie." Finn laughed as he walked into the kitchen where I stood next to the sink, telephone still in my hand.

"We have to pay her tuition bill, my parents forgot and her student status is in jeopardy." I informed him. Finn only nodded and ran a hand through his sandy blonde hair. He didn't say anything even though I knew he wasn't thrilled with the idea of paying Jamie's bill. Another reason why I loved him; he understood my sense of responsibility. Enough that after grabbing a cup of coffee he jumped on the computer and logged into my sister's grad school account to pay the bill.

"Best husband ever."

"I'll remember you said that when you're upset at me later." Finn said over his shoulder.

"Who says I'll be upset at you later?"

"I'm just keeping that one in my arsenal, like a 'get out of jail free' card."

"Hmm I'll have to remember that." I replied. "Oh and Jamie said hi for what it's worth."

"It's worth a lot." Finn sighed pointing to the amount of the bill online.

I ran a hand through my hair, "Sorry Finn, I already told her there is no next time with us."

"Good, if we're going to have a baby we need to keep all the money we can." Finn stated. "Which reminds me that we should christen our mattress here in the house tonight."

I rolled my eyes and walked out of the room leaving my husband to deal with the bill and his bed time notions. I found Grams in the living room working on a crossword puzzle and was just about to join her when there was a knock on the door.

"Paul must be here." Grams stated.

"I'll get it."


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I don't own! Song credit to We the Kings

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"_We're only here for one more night scream it like you mean it, _

_one more time we'll tear down the building_

_come on, come on, sing along whoa_

_come on, come on, stay young."_

**Stay Young

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I took a deep breath as I walked towards the door knowing that my childhood best friend stood on the other side. The childhood friend I hadn't seen in ten years, the childhood friend I had kissed the last I had seen him. I was nervous but at the same time I was excited to see him again. So, with a big smile on my face I swung open the door and looked up…and up…into the dark brown eyes of Paul Noels.

There was no mistaking that I was looking at Paul but I did hesitate for a moment. The Paul I remembered was gangly and awkward in a body that seemed to be growing too fast for him to keep up. This Paul that stood before me was huge! He towered over me by at least a foot and the breadth of his shoulders made my husband, who was no weakling, look like a little kid.

While I was busy looking him over, Paul just continued to stare at me; a confused look stuck on his face. I laughed at that; his confused look had not changed at all.

"Do you remember me, Paul?" I asked hesitantly once it was clear that the confused look wasn't going to fade anytime soon.

At the sound of my voice his eyes finally focused in on me and I exhaled in relief.

"Marilyn?" He choked out.

"The one and only." I smiled. "I really appreciate you coming over to help and for helping Grams as much as you have."

"Yeah, sure, no problem." He said distractedly as he kept staring at me.

"Are the guys here, Mar?" Finn called from where I had left him with the computer.

"Come meet Paul!" I called back.

I turned back to Paul as Finn approached behind me and didn't miss the look of recognition fall over his face.

"Your husband." He sighed.

I was confused at his attitude but tried not to show it as I smiled up at him, "Paul, this is my husband Finn and Finn this is Paul."

I watched as the two of them shook hands, Paul looking very tense and Finn acting completely normal. Something was off with Paul…of course this could be a normal thing for him now and I just wasn't aware of it but somehow I doubted that.

"Hey Paul the truck just pulled up!" Some guy called from outside.

I peered past Paul and saw five guys waiting in the yard as the truck pulled into the driveway. All five of them appeared to be just as large as Paul was and once they saw his tense body language immediately trotted up to the porch to see what was up.

"Guys this is Marilyn."

"Hi." I smiled back looking at each of the guys. "Hey wait! I remember you Jared Leavy!"

Jared nodded, "I remember you too. You probably don't know these guys though, they're younger than us. Embry, Quil, Seth and Jacob."

"Can I have a word with you in private, Paul?" Jacob asked after he smiled politely at me.

I watched as Paul nodded stiffly and followed the taller man into the tree line to the side of Grams' house leaving me on the porch with the other four guys. Finn stepped out of the house then and took in the guys curiously.

"These are Paul's friends, Embry, Quil, Seth, Jacob and Jared. This is my husband, Finn."

"Well, that explains that." Seth muttered earning him a shot in the stomach by Jared's elbow.

"Better get started on the truck, it won't unload itself you know!" Embry said loudly as he grabbed Quil and Seth and dragged them off towards the truck.

"Is everything alright out here?" Grams questioned as she poked her head out of the door. "Where's Paul?"

"Everything's fine, Mrs. Jameson. Paul is just talking some business with Jake, he'll be back shortly." Jared said smoothly, a charming smile on his face.

Grams smiled and disappeared back into the house, leaving the rest of us to deal with our stuff in the moving truck. Finn and I didn't have a lot of stuff and with the help of the guys I was sure we would be done in no time. With a smile in my direction Jared headed for the truck and I followed leaving Finn to finish up paying Jamie's bill online.

"What bad luck for Paul." Seth was saying as Jared and I approached the truck.

The others couldn't see us coming but we could sure hear what they were talking about.

"Yeah she's ma-" Jared cleared his throat loudly before Quil could finish his sentence and the two of us appeared around the open doors of the truck to look up at the guys already starting to pick up boxes.

"Hey, we were just talking about that botched order of Paul's for the store!" Embry said brightly. Too brightly, which led me to believe we were being handed a load of bull. Normally I would have been blunt and just asked what the hell they were talking about but I didn't know these guys well enough to do that. Instead I pretended like I believed every word of Embry's pathetic cover up and started to tell them where each box should go.

I had the four of them dispatched with boxes when Jacob and Paul approached. Jacob immediately jumped up into the truck, grabbed a box that I had labeled 'bedroom' and made his way back towards the house quickly.

"Sorry about that." Paul said. "I didn't greet my best friend the way I had intended to."

"And how did you intend to?"

Paul smiled, "Like this."

And with that his arms came around me and pulled me into a hug. After he spun me around a few times like he used to, he set me back down on my feet and smiled down into my laughing face. My smile grew wider as I took in the sight of his familiar smile.

"Think we can be friends again, Paul? Like we used to be?"

"Maybe not exactly like we used to be, Mar. But we can definitely be friends."

Xxx

After the guys were done unloading everything, Grams had insisted on feeding all of them. Once they were done there was hardly any food left in the house. But the guys had all left with content smiles as they rubbed their full bellies, leaving me with the task of going to the grocery store to stock back up on food again.

I left Finn at home working on his next manual and Grams at home working on a crossword puzzle. Then, for the first time in ten years I drove to the Noel's one stop shop and grabbed a cart. Noel's was a grocery store but there was a significant amount of merchandise that was not edible or used for cooking. Hence the name 'one stop shop'. Paul and I had spent many a day in here getting free candy from our favorite cash register lady and racing carts down the long aisles only to be yelled at by Paul's Dad.

The place had changed since I had been here, changed to keep up with the latest trends. However, there was still a 50's feel about the place that I hoped would always be there. Grams' list wasn't long and it didn't take long before I was at the checkout smiling at the girl scanning my items. Her name tag read: Kim and I felt a niggling at my memory as I tried to place her face.

"Marilyn Jameson?" She asked hesitantly, beating me to the punch.

I smiled and nodded, "It's Donnelly now, but yeah that's me. Wait! I remember you now."

"Totally obsessed with Jared, at the back of the class, straight A's. Yup, that was me."

"I wasn't going to put it that way but that's an accurate description." I chuckled.

Kim nodded in resignation, "Yeah, but at least I'm married to Jared now."

"Aww that's sweet. How long did it take him to notice you?" I asked curiously, remembering the bet Paul and I had made about it. My guess had been within two years, Paul's had been never, which I had always thought was mean.

"A couple years after you left." She replied as she continued to scan my items. "So I hear you and your husband moved in with your Grandmother."

"Yeah, I wanted to live here again in the peace and quiet. And I just really want to be here for my Grandma now."

Kim nodded in understanding, "I was sorry to hear about your Grandpa."

"Thanks." I smiled.

When I got back home with the groceries in tow, Finn and Grams were playing a game of Rummy and continued to play as I put the food away in the kitchen. When I was done they dealt me into the next game and we spent the last hour leading up to dinner playing Rummy. It reminded me of the times Grams, Paul, Jamie and I played Rummy together. Jamie always cheating, but still losing. Paul always winning and bragging about it the rest of the day while Jamie declared he was the cheater and was ordered to go sit in the time out chair by Grams. Meanwhile I had happily kept my mouth shut and eaten the cookie Jamie would have gotten had she kept her mouth shut. Ahh, memories.

"Your parents called while you were gone." Finn said as the two of us got ready for bed much later.

"Yeah?"

"They're sending us a check to pay us back for Jamie's bill."

"That was pretty quick for them." I stated. "Where are they anyway?"

"Somewhere in Italy, I didn't really catch it because their reception sucked. Apparently Jamie called and bitched at them. They promised we wouldn't have to worry about it again."

"Well at least she can still get through to them. I just wish they'd refuse to pay for it so Jamie can learn some responsibility." I sighed as I slipped into bed in nothing but one of Finn's favorite lace nighties. I didn't find them very comfortable to sleep in but at least I didn't have to wear them to bed all the time. Only the nights I could tell Finn was frisky.

"I think your sister is going to get a slap of reality in the face when she finishes grad school and finally has to be her own."

"That's if my parents allow her to be completely on her own."

"Maybe you should talk to them." Finn suggested.

"Yeah, because they've listened to me so many times." I began sarcastically, "Hey Dad maybe you should come home and help Grams deal with Buck's stuff. Oh what's that? You and Mom booked a trip to Rome? Oh well, isn't that too bad! Yeah, Finn I don't think me suggesting anything is going to convince them of anything."

"I guess all we can do is be here for your sister and try to influence her ourselves since your parents obviously don't care if she ever becomes an adult."

I smiled, "See, that's what I love about you Finn Donnelly."

"So is the baby making factory open tonight?" Finn asked.

"I wish you wouldn't put it that way, but yes." I sighed as he pulled back the covers and slid into bed in nothing but his boxers.

"Grams can't hear us can she?"

"She wears earplugs."

"Still…"

"Seriously Finn? We're married. Now get over here before the factory closes."

That shut him up.

Much later, after my husband was passed the hell out and snoring like a band saw, I laid awake staring out the window into the night sky. I sighed in happiness; in the city I had always missed being able to see the stars like this. And the moon…it was so bright tonight. While I stared the sound of a wolf's lone howl filled the silence of the night, sending a shiver down my spine at the sound of its sorrowful howl.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I don't own! Song credit to My Chemical Romance**

**Thank you for the reviews and interest already they really help me out!

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"_Say what I wanna say,_

_Tell me I'm an angel, take this to my grave._

_Tell me a bad man, kick me like a stray._

_Tell me I'm an angel, take this to my grave."_

**House of Wolves

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Today I was spending the day with Paul and I was really excited about it. I hadn't seen much of him after he and his friends helped us move our stuff into the house, but last night he had called and asked if I was free today. He wouldn't tell me what we were going to do all day, but he assured me that it was going to be like old times. Since it was August, I had a pretty good feeling that we would probably be going to the beach, sun or no sun, so I grabbed my suit.

At first I felt bad about abandoning Grams and Finn but that was quickly put aside when I realized Finn would be working all day on one of his manuals and Grams had a card game with some of the older ladies from around the rez.

"You sure you don't mind me leaving for the whole day?" I asked Finn as he watched me apply the last of my makeup from his perch on our bed.

"No, you need to get out and have some fun. You need to quit worrying about everyone and just relax. And since I have a deadline, I cannot be the one to help you with that."

"You're right. I'm gonna go out with Paul and have a completely carefree day as if I was a teenager again." I smiled and leaned down to give Finn a peck on the lips.

Paul arrived ten minutes later in what appeared to be a fairly new truck. I walked outside before he could even get out and flipped him off when he honked the horn at me just to be a jack ass. At least that hadn't changed; he had always loved to scare me. Halloween was his favorite holiday just because it provided plenty of opportunities to scare the hell out of me. My last Halloween in La Push, Paul had stayed with me until well after midnight watching scary movies and when he finally went home I had gone to bed slightly paranoid from all the stuff we had watched. Five minutes after I had been in bed the jerk had started tapping on my window and five minutes after that he had actually lifted the window and crawled inside with a mask on scaring me shitless.

"You're such a jerk you know." I stated as I climbed into his truck.

"Really? Why's that?"

"I was just remembering how much you love to scare me." I replied. "Like my last Halloween in La Push."

"Oh yeah! I had you screaming bloody murder." Paul laughed. "Your Dad ran in with a tennis racquet and started laughing when he realized what had happened."

"One of these days I will get you back."

Paul rolled his eyes, "You said that ten years ago and I've been waiting since then, Mar."

"Oh don't you worry, I plan on being here a long time. Anyway, what are we doing today?"

"First, I thought we'd go to the beach."

"Ha! I knew it!" I smiled triumphantly as I pointed to the bag I had brought with my swimming suit and beach towel. I had learned the hard way to be prepared for beach visits with Paul. Although he had been much less of man back in the day, he still had been able to lift me up and carry me far enough to toss me into the ocean fully clothed.

"I can still throw you into the ocean you know."

"Yeah, I'll probably fly farther too, thanks to your increased muscle."

Paul chuckled, "Don't worry, I would never hurt you."

"That's good to know."

When we arrived at the beach it was overcast. I was not surprised by this, but I didn't let it stop me from running into the woods to change into my suit. When I reappeared Paul was sitting on the blanket I brought and my towel was stretched out in the sand behind him. He had pulled off his shirt and sat there looking pretty impressive with his wide expanse of abs and cut off shorts. Holy shit, was that an eight pack I saw?

"Jeez, with a body like that I'm surprised you're taking me to the beach." I teased as I sat down on the blanket.

"What is that supposed to mean?" He asked curiously.

"Don't you have a girlfriend or something?"

"No." He replied simply. "Besides, I wouldn't want a girl just interested in my chest now would I?"

I laughed, lay back on my towel and looked up at the cloudy sky above us. The beach was quiet because it was early in the day and as the breeze blew over me I regretted putting on my swimming suit, even if it was a tank and skirt.

"Are you cold?" Paul asked as I shivered visibly.

"I'll get over it." I replied easily.

"Here, scoot over closer to me." Paul said as he lay out on the blanket and opened an arm for me. I happily curled into the heat of his body and sighed as his heat rolled over me.

"You're pretty hot you know." I commented. "Is that healthy?"

"Thanks, I know I am. And yes, it's healthy." He grinned.

"Hmm strange, I feel like I should be over heated right now but I'm just right."

Paul chuckled, "So, what do you do for a living?"

"Well, I'm an author." I replied.

"Really? I'm sure I would have heard about you putting out a book."

"I have a pen name."

"What is it?"

"Only two people know about my pen name, Paul, besides my manager. It's a pretty big secret."

"Why is it a secret?"

"So I can stay out of the public's eye." I replied.

"You're that big huh?"

"Well, not that big but big enough that I would be bothered occasionally. And I don't want that. When Finn and I have kids I want them to have as normal of a life as they can."

"Kids huh?"

I nodded, "We're actually trying to have baby right now. That's why I wanted to come back here; I want my kids raised here."

Paul was strangely quiet after that and I let it go, taking in the beach sounds and smells that surrounded us. It was so quiet here and I loved it. I loved everything about it and still resented my parents for taking it away from me ten years ago.

"I'm M.M. Peterson, Paul."

"Huh?"

"I said I'm M.M. Peterson."

"That's your pen name?" Paul asked in surprise.

"Have you ever heard of me?"

"Are you kidding? I love those books! So does half the rez. I keep them stocked at the store all the time, Mar!"

"Shh! You can't tell anyone, Paul."

"My lips are sealed but I want an autograph."

I laughed at that and asked skeptically, "Do you really like them or are you just saying that to be a good friend?"

"Why would I lie about that? I love your books and you should remember that I'm not much of a reader. Grams made me read one and since then I've been hooked. Now I know why she was so insistent I read one." Paul replied. "So, why did you tell me after you said it's a big secret?"

"We're friends; friends tell each other secrets. Or did you forget about that? I still haven't told anyone the story of Sally Jenkins and the turtle."

"And it better stay that way!" Paul growled playfully as he ruffled my hair, which earned him a shriek.

No one touched my hair and got away with it, he of all people should know about that after he had stuck gum in it. After that my waist long hair had been cut to my shoulders, a complete and utter devastation in my nine year old world. Paul had felt really bad for about an hour and then was back to his old self again. However, I did not let him get away with that one. Let's just say that the next day at school hadn't been a pleasant experience for Mr. Paul Noels.

"Paul Noels, I know you know better than to touch my hair!"

"We're not in school anymore and I don't care what people think about me now." He laughed as he continued to mess up my hair.

"Wow, who would've thought Paul could play nice." Someone said from above us.

I cast my eyes upwards and saw a girl glancing down at the two of us in amusement. It took me a minute, but when I finally realized who she was Paul was already growling her name.

"Leah."

"Hello Paul and this must be Marilyn. I heard you and your husband were here." She smiled putting a strong emphasis on the word 'husband' as if she thought I was cheating on him or something for hanging out with my childhood best friend. "Seriously though, I never thought you had a nice side like this. A few years ago you had anger issues and now you're actually laughing!"

"Anger issues?" I asked curiously.

"Yeah, he'll have to fill you in about that, I better be going. Nice seeing you Marilyn." And with that said Leah walked away.

"What anger issues?" I asked Paul again.

"After you left some things happened and I didn't handle them the way I should have. It wasn't about you though, not that you leaving didn't upset me, but other things happened. Pretty big things happened."

I wasn't sure what kind of things had happened but I could tell from the look on his face that he was done talking about them, so I let it go this time. After all, we had only started to reconnect with each other and it wasn't healthy to push the subject with him yet.

"What's after this? Not that this isn't exciting or anything but you know I'm a busy person. I've got places to go, people to see-"

I never did get to finish that thought because the next thing I knew I was in Paul's arms and he was running towards the ocean. Then, despite my desperate grip on his neck, he tossed me into the ocean without mercy. When I finally resurfaced I found Paul right next to me in the water, a broad grin on his face.

"At least you joined me this time to make sure you didn't drown me." I sighed as I wiped my wet hair back from my face.

"Grams would kill me if I let the ocean take you." Paul replied.

"And you'd miss me too."

"You have no idea how much."

Xxx

Once we had dried off sufficiently, Paul took me back to his house to get warmed up before we headed on to whatever he had planned next. I wasn't surprised when we pulled into the driveway of his parent's house and pulled up next to the garage that had an apartment above it. Even at the age of fifteen Paul had been confident that he would at least be living above the garage until he was thirty or married.

"I know what you're laughing about and I still have five years."

That just made me laugh harder as we walked up the stairs to his apartment. Once inside I realized that it wasn't how I had been expecting it to be. What I had been expecting was the pure essence of male; basically how Finn's apartment had been when I first started to date him. Clothes everywhere, the smell of dirty socks in the air and nothing but man food in the fridge.

Instead Paul's place was surprisingly neat except for the pair of cut off sweat pants draped across the chair closest to the door. After I sniffed the air I was even more surprised to smell nothing but the faint smell of pine.

"Nice."

"You're surprised."

"Of course I am. You're a single guy living on your own. Finn's place was such a mess when I first met him."

"Well, I'm not Finn." Paul replied a bit defensively.

"No, you're definitely not."

"How long have you two been married?" Paul asked curiously as he threw me a towel.

"Two years. I sent you an invitation."

Paul smiled sheepishly, "I planned on going with your Grandparents but I had an emergency with the business that weekend."

I laughed, "It's alright, but you better invite me to your wedding."

He didn't reply to that statement and instead disappeared into his bedroom to change. I took this opportunity to quickly change back into my dry clothes and when Paul didn't reappear I started to look around his apartment.

There wasn't a lot to see as far as decorations but what he did have was a wall specifically for pictures. Once I was close enough I took in the different pictures adorning the wall. There was one of the two of us at Halloween when we were ten years old where I was dressed as an evil scientist and Paul my assistant, Igor. Then there was a picture of the two of us at his birthday the year I left, his arm slung around my shoulders as I shoved a fork full of cake into my mouth. Next to that was a picture of Paul with Buck and Grams that looked like it had only been taken a few years ago. There were pictures of his friends I had met the other day too, big group shots that contained people I hadn't even met yet.

"You ready?" Paul asked as he walked up behind me.

"Yeah."

"We're going to a cook out where you can meet the rest of the people in that photo."

"Really? Jeez, now I'm nervous."

Paul rolled his eyes, "They know you better than you think. I've been talking about you for years."

"Wow I feel honored."

"You didn't talk about me?" Paul pouted as the two of us walked out of his apartment.

"Of course I did you doofus!" I laughed. "In fact, I talked about you a lot to Finn when we first started dating and he thought you were my boyfriend until I clarified the fact that we hadn't seen each other since we were fifteen."

Yet again when Finn's name came up in conversation I noticed that Paul had nothing to say. Curious, very curious.

When the two of us arrived at what Paul had informed me was Sam and Emily Uley's house we were greeted by the aroma of delicious food and the loud laughter of his large group of friends. One glance told me that all of his friends were as large and as handsome as he was.

After Paul introduced me to the few guys I hadn't met before, Kim came out of the kitchen and grabbed my hand, dragging me back into the kitchen.

"It's good to see you again Marilyn!" Kim smiled widely.

"You too, and you can call me Mar." I smiled.

"Okay Mar, this is Emily and the little girl with pigtails over there is her daughter, Lilly. The little boy pulling her pig tails is my son, Ben. And the heavily pregnant one there is Sally."

I turned my gaze away from the adorable four year olds and to the very pregnant Sally. There was something about her that was very familiar, but I just couldn't place it. Until she looked up at me and smiled crookedly.

"Sally Jenkins?" I yelled, holding in my laughter after Paul and I had just talked about her today.

Sally smiled, "Yup, although it's Sally Call now. I'm married to Embry."

"Congratulations." I smiled, staring a bit enviously at her stomach. Although I wasn't too envious at the moment, she looked pretty miserable.

"I hope I made something that you like Marilyn." Emily said from where she stood stirring a large pot and holding a baby on her hip. "This is my son, Will, by the way."

"Aw, he's so cute. How old is he?" I asked, paying no attention to the scars marring her otherwise beautiful face and instead focusing in on the smiling baby on her hip.

"Just turned a year old a few weeks ago." Emily replied. "Paul told us that you and your husband are trying to have a baby."

I blushed a little at that. Why would Paul tell them that?

"Yeah, no luck yet." I replied. "I'm glad to be back here anyway, so when the little ones do come I can raise them here."

"It is the best place to raise them." Kim nodded.

"Even though the men are extremely annoyingly protective, especially when you're my size." Sally sighed just as Embry peeked into the kitchen to check up on her.

Emily, Kim and I laughed at that and finished making the food before the guys starved to death, if their constant 'when is the food going to be ready?' was any indication.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I don't own! Song credit to A.F.I**

**Thank you for the feedback, it helps me keep writing!**

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"_Anything! I'd tear out my eyes for you my dear._

_Anything! To see everything that you do, I do._

_Anything! I'd tear out my soul for you my dear, oh my dear_

_To feel everything that you do, I do, I do."_

**Torch Song

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The rest of the summer flew by way too fast for my liking, filled with a lot of time spent with Paul and Grams while Finn continued to work on his manuals. It was already October, Halloween around the corner and the air already smelled of the impending winter.

October was also the mark of five unsuccessful months of trying to make a baby. I told myself not to worry about it, but after watching too many Lifetime movies about infertility I started to panic a bit. I hadn't talked to anyone about it, and the topic was always simmering under the surface of my relationship with Finn.

"Halloween is coming up." Paul stated as he plopped down beside me on the front porch swing where I had been sitting for at least an hour, lost in my thoughts.

"Great." I rolled my eyes. "I can almost guarantee that means I need to watch my back."

Paul's eyebrows wrinkled, "You're upset about something."

"Yeah, upset about the idea of you scaring the hell out of me on Halloween." I replied.

"No, it's something else."

I sighed knowing it was no use trying to keep anything from Paul anymore; he had a freaky sixth sense when it came to me which was something I didn't remember from our childhood at all.

"I'm still not pregnant and we've been trying for about five months now."

Paul was quiet for a few moments as he turned his gaze away from mine and looked out across the front yard to the quiet street beyond.

"And I'm scared I'm infertile or something."

Paul scoffed at that, "Maybe it's Finn."

"We haven't even talked about this Paul! I just can't spring that on him. 'Hey, by the way let's go make sure you aren't shooting blanks.'"

Paul chuckled at that, "If you're worried, Mar, you should go see a doctor. You want children don't you?"

"More than anything right now."

Paul nodded as a small smile spread across his lips, "You'll make a great Mom. Too bad your kids will scare the crap out of you too."

I chuckled and slapped him playfully on the arm; after trying to inflict pain on him a few weeks ago I had done nothing more but bruise my hand pretty badly. Needless to say I had learned my lesson.

"Well, if you're worried about offending Finn or something you could go to the doctor and find out for yourself. I'll go with you."

"That's not weird." I said sarcastically thinking of how uncomfortable I would feel sitting in the waiting room of the gynecologist with my best friend that also happened to be a guy. We had barely acknowledged the fact that I had a period when puberty hit me at twelve.

"I know how a woman's body works, Mar." Paul rolled his eyes. "Do you want to go alone or not?"

"I could take Grams." I sighed thoughtfully, but then decided against it. She might let it slip to Finn, and I wasn't ready to confront him about this yet. "Alright, you can come with me. I'll do this and then worry about what comes next later."

Xxx

"Paul Noels put that down right now!" I hissed through my teeth, hoping no one else in the waiting room noticed Paul pick up and start examining the plastic vagina that was displayed on one of the tables in the waiting room. Honestly, I didn't know why a vagina had to be displayed out in the open anyway. It was one thing to have it in one of the exam rooms but out here?

"Why? It's just plastic, Mar." Paul chuckled as he set the blasted thing back on the table. "Embarrassed? It's just biology."

"Shut up." I pouted. "I'm nervous enough as it is, I don't need you talking about feminine body parts to me."

Paul laughed and grabbed one of my hands in one of his much larger and warmer hands. I immediately felt better with the warmth of his hand radiating into my much colder one. We probably looked like a couple to anyone looking at us, but I didn't really care at the moment. I was about to find out whether or not I was even capable of having a baby.

"Marilyn Donnelly." The nurse called from the doorway.

I pulled my hand from Paul's grasp and stood up. "You stay here."

"Of course." Paul nodded.

With that I followed the nurse into the back and went through the motions of the check in routine. After I had been weighed, had my temperature taken, I changed into a gown and waited for the doctor to come to the room.

Xxx

After the exam was done and once I was dressed again, I walked out from behind the screen as my doctor walked into the room again.

"Why don't you get your husband and we'll meet in my office to talk about what I found?" She suggested.

"He's not my husband." I said quickly. "That is…my husband is at home and I brought my good friend who happens to be a guy and-"

She smiled in understanding, "He can come back if you want, but he doesn't have to."

I wanted someone in there with me in case my doctor dropped the bomb on me. So after she left and headed towards her office to wait for the two of us, I headed back out to the waiting room where Paul sat reading a Parenting magazine. I chuckled a bit at the sight of his face buried in a magazine with a laughing baby on the front and he immediately looked up at me.

"How'd it go?"

"Will you come back to her office with me? I don't want to be alone if she has bad news."

"Of course." Paul replied easily as he threw the magazine down on the table filled with various magazines.

He grabbed my cold hand as I led him in the direction of the doctor's office and didn't let go until we walked into her office where she was waiting behind her desk with my file spread out before her. Paul and I took a seat and resumed our hand holding once again.

"Alright Marilyn, your main concern was whether or not you were capable of having a child. Even though it has been more than a few months since you've been trying to have a baby everything about you looks to be just fine. I do have to say that these things take time, but it wouldn't hurt to have your husband examined." She explained and I sighed in relief as Paul flashed me a white smile and squeezed my hand.

"How long is a good indicator if there is something wrong with my husband?"

She looked thoughtful, "Well, no couple is the same Marilyn. But I would suggest since you are obviously worried that you have him examined soon."

I nodded at that, already dreading the conversation between Finn and me. It's not that I thought he would be angry that I was suggesting such a thing, but I was scared all the same.

I expressed these concerns to Paul on our way back to La Push and waited for his input patiently.

"You need to be honest with him, Mar. You want a baby and if he wants a baby he should have no problem going to the doctor and being tested."

"I don't know." I sighed. "Maybe I'll just wait until after all the holidays before I bring it up. The holidays are stressful enough without adding that."

"Wait until January!"

"Yeah and who knows I could get pregnant during that time anyway?"

Paul sighed, "I'm not going to tell you what to do, but I think you should talk to him about it soon."

"This time, I'm not going to take your advice."

Xxx

"Paul."

"What's wrong? You sound upset!"

Thank goodness this was a phone call because I could almost guarantee he would be freaking out at the sight of my silly tears. It was Halloween and Finn had had to go to Seattle to meet with his manager, completely ruining my plans for Halloween. The two of us were going to go to Kim and Jared's Halloween party dressed as Anakin Skywalker and Padmé and now I had no Anakin; something that I was really upset about.

"I need you to do me a huge favor."

"Anything."

I chuckled at that because those were very dangerous words for him at the moment, "I need you to be the Anakin to my Padmé tonight."

"Star Wars?"

"Yes."

"I thought Finn was going to be your Anakin."

"He had to go into Seattle to meet with his agent."

Paul sighed on the other end, "Will his costume even fit me?"

"Grams and I have been working on that all morning, and I think it will fit you now as long as you have some black pants to wear and some boots."

Paul was quiet for a few minutes, "I do."

"Thank you Paul!" I smiled widely. "You won't regret it; we got a really sweet lightsabre to go with it! What were you going to be anyway?"

"Nothing." He replied although I could tell that he was lying about that. The bastard obviously had something up his sleeve and if I didn't want the shit scared of me I knew I needed to be on my A game tonight.

"Then this is perfect! Be over here in an hour so we have time to get dressed. Anyway, I have to go and wrap the present I got for Sally and Embry's baby."

"Alright."

After I wrapped my little Halloween gift for little Max Call, I started to get ready for the party. It was going to take me much longer to get ready considering that I had to do my hair and makeup, plus have Grams double check the stitching on my gown once I had it on.

So when Paul finally arrived with a pair of black pants and a pair of boots, my hair and makeup was already done and Grams was working on the hem of my dress as I stood up on a chair for her.

"The stuff is in the bathroom." I informed him as he looked up at me with an amused smile.

My hair, which was version of the two buns on each side, had taken forever to achieve. By the time I was done, I had built up a sweat and my arms ached from being held over my head for so long. But it was worth it; even if Paul was probably laughing at me while he changed into his Anakin outfit.

When he reappeared as Anakin I had to laugh. The outfit was perfect for Finn, who with his sandy blonde hair and build looked similar to Hayden Christensen. But the native man who stood before me dressed as a Jedi about to go to the Dark side looked so unlike Hayden Christensen that I had to laugh.

"Hey, you wanted me to dress like this." Paul said defensively.

I laughed, "I get the feeling that a lot more woman would love Star Wars if you played Anakin Skywalker, Paul. Especially if you displayed that eight pack of yours."

"Eight pack?" Grams questioned as she started to put her sewing stuff away.

"You've never seen him without a shirt?" I asked in amazement. I had only been here for a few months, but it seemed like almost every day one of Paul's friends was running around shirtless.

"Oh I have." Grams winked. "I just didn't realize that was what that was called."

Both Paul and I chuckled at that as Grams grabbed her sewing kit and vacated the room. Once it was just the two of us, we looked each other over and nodded in approval at what we saw.

"Here's your lightsabre." I said as I handed him the light up blue lightsabre I had picked up at Wal-Mart. "I want it back, I love those things."

Paul quirked a brow, but didn't say anything.

Xxx

After everyone had had a good laugh at Paul's costume we had wasted no time digging into the food Kim had prepared with the help of Emily. It was all Halloween themed. Spaghetti and Meatballs which we told the kids was really intestines and cooked eyeballs. That had gone over well; especially when Lilly had flung the 'eyeball' right into Jared's face as she screamed.

None of the other guys were dressed up, leaving Paul, the girls, the children and I to have fun in our costumes. Sally was dressed as a shepherdess with little Max dressed as one of her sheep, which was so adorable that I took about twenty pictures of just the two of them. Kim had dressed as a pirate and little Ben apparently had insisted on becoming her parrot. That left Emily dressed as a Witch, Lilly as a butterfly, and little Will dressed as an adorable penguin. That had also caused me to use up most of my memory card on my camera.

"Are you going to quit taking pictures of the kids and come bob for apples?" Paul asked after I had snapped the tenth picture in a row of the two four year olds chasing each other around and just being adorable.

"Yeah, yeah." I rolled my eyes as I waved a dismissive hand in his direction.

"I thought Padmé was a dutiful wife and did as her husband said." Paul stated.

"Have you even watched Star Wars?" I asked skeptically. "First of all their marriage was a secret and second, she was a strong independent woman. She was the Queen of Naboo for goodness sakes!"

"Now that's a woman I could love." Seth laughed. "She knows her Star Wars."

I laughed at that before I followed Paul over to the apple bobbing station where Kim's head had just been fully submerged by her smirking husband.

"Jared!"

I turned to look up at Paul then, wondering if he would try to pull the same trick. I doubted it though; he was probably saving it all up for one big scare or something. Little did he know that I was prepared this time. He may have gotten me every year that we had known each other before I moved, but this was a different year baby. He wasn't going to get me this time.

After I had finally exhausted myself with all of the activities Kim had prepared and after the kids were passed out on their Dad's laps, Paul and I finally left. I was tired, but I wasn't about to let my guard down. So far I could smell nothing fishy, but I think that was all part of the plan.

"So…" I began, looking over at him with an assessing eye.

"So…" He echoed.

"I'm on to you."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Paul replied. "You obviously need to get in bed and sleep off those two beers you had."

"I can handle my alcohol, Paul Noels." I said defensively. "But maybe you were counting on that for whatever you have planned."

Paul laughed loudly, his husky laugh filling the cab of his truck, "What I have planned is taking you home so you can go to sleep."

I quirked an eyebrow, but he never noticed in the darkness of the cab. We were quiet the rest of the way back to Grams' and didn't say anything to each other until I said good night and hopped out of his truck. As I walked to the door, I kept glancing over my shoulder to where his truck was slowly backing out of the drive. I kept looking until I was in the house and his truck was down the road.

I didn't breathe a sigh of relief until I was nestled in bed after making sure the windows and door to my bedroom were locked securely. Then, I allowed myself to close my eyes and go to sleep.

Xxx

I jerked awake at two in the morning thanks to a very strange and vivid dream about being chased by pirates on what looked like the Death Star. Instinctively I turned to curl into Finn only to realize that he was gone tonight and I was all alone in this bed on Halloween night. I laid there for a few minutes before my bladder started to protest.

I carefully rolled out of bed and made my way to the locked bedroom door. I wasn't dumb; I knew that I still needed to have my guard up. Although, I doubted that Paul would be desperate enough to stake out my house at two in the morning. So with a yawn I opened up the door and made my way to the bathroom down the hall.

Everything was fine until I was seated on the toilet going about my business, that's when I first heard it; a strange bumping noise that sent the hairs on the back of my neck into attention. I finished my business quickly, washed my hands and then pressed my ear against the door to listen for any tell tale sound.

I waited a few minutes in nothing but silence; the kind of silence that made your ears ring. I would have stayed there longer, but since I did not want to be in the bathroom all night I slowly eased open the door and darted for my bedroom door. Once I was inside, I spun around and locked the door, breathing a sigh of relief.

"I've been expecting you."

I wasn't proud, but my scream pierced the silence of the house probably awakening every animal and person in a two mile radius except for Grams who wore ear plugs to bed.

Paul started laughing hysterically as I put a hand to my racing heart and flicked on the bedroom light. He was sitting on the bed, holding his sides as he died of laughter.

"I didn't even try to go all out!" He was saying through his laughter. "That's…what's…so great."

"Shut the hell up." I pouted as I stomped over to the bed and sat down beside him.

I slapped his arm which only caused him to laugh louder.

"I know you knew this was coming." Paul stated.

"I didn't think you were creepy enough to stake out my house and wait for me to get up to pee to sneak into my room." I fired back.

Paul shrugged, "I happened to be in the neighborhood and we both know how much I love Halloween and scaring the shit out of you, Mar."

"What were you going to do if Finn was here?"

Paul looked thoughtful for a minute before he replied, "I would have been waiting for you in the bathroom."

"Freak."


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I don't own! Song credit to The All American Rejects**

**Thank you for all the great reviews! This will probably be the last update until next week; I'm going home this weekend for Halloween and to move stuff into our new house.

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"_The wall start breathing, my minds un-weaving_

_Maybe it's best you leave me alone._

_A weight is lifted on this evening,_

_I give the final blow._

_When darkness turns to light, it ends tonight, it ends tonight._

_Just a little insight, won't make this right_

_It's too late to fight, it ends tonight, it ends tonight."_

**It Ends Tonight

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"Hey sis."

I immediately froze upon hearing the sound of my little sister's voice over the phone. She never called regularly. The last time she called she needed us to pay her bill, so I was pretty sure she needed something again.

"Hello Jamie. Cut to the chase."

"Wow, I love your confidence in me, Mar." Jamie sighed.

"Well, you usually only call when you need something from me."

"I should be hurt, but I know you're right. Actually I wanted to call you and tell you that I've had a lot to think about these past few months."

"Go on." I encouraged curiously.

"I went to see a counselor here on campus and she really helped me out, Mar. She helped me realize that you're right. So, I did it. I landed myself a job to hold me over until school is over and I'm using my inheritance from Buck to pay for the rest of grad school. No more Mom and Dad."

"Are you serious?" I asked in amazement.

"Yes, you were right about me. I need to be more independent and this was the best place to start. Mom and Dad didn't even care when I told them, in fact they seemed rather uninterested."

"Yeah, ever since the two of us made it over eighteen they haven't been paying attention."

"It sucks." Jamie sighed. "I just never admitted what they were doing to us until now."

"You still have me, Finn and Grams all here for you in one convenient location." I smiled.

"Thanks. Actually I was thinking of maybe coming for Thanksgiving. It's still a few weeks off and I'll let you know for sure okay? But I've gotta run now, I'll talk to you later."

"Alright, bye Jamie."

"Bye Mar."

Once the phone was back in the cradle I walked into the den where Finn was hard at work on yet another manual. He barely paid me any attention as I walked around his desk to face him and only looked up when I pointedly cleared my throat.

"That was Jamie."

"And what did she want?" He asked as he cast his eyes back down to his work before him.

"She's finally done it; she's going to do it on her own."

"Good."

I realized I wasn't going to get much conversation out of him while he was working, so I left the den and headed to the kitchen where Grams was standing by the side of the sink. Beside her, sticking out from under the sink, were a pair of long jean encased legs.

"Who's under there?" I asked curiously.

"Paul." Grams replied. "I noticed we've been having some drainage problems, so I've got Paul on it."

"Aw, aren't you a good boy, Paul?" I teased.

"Shut up, Mar. I don't see your husband trying to help out around here." He snapped back.

Jeez, what was with everyone and their attitudes today? The person I expected to have a snotty attitude was the person who had been the nicest to me! Besides Grams, Grams didn't count; she was always nice to me.

"What crawled up your butt?" I asked defensively. "And for your information Finn doesn't know how to do that type of stuff."

"That's obvious." Paul replied as he got up from under the sink.

"You don't need to be mean to me, my husband already brushed me off and I don't need it from you too." I said feeling stupid tears stinging behind my eyes.

Sometime during our little battle, Grams had vacated the kitchen, leaving Paul and I alone in the kitchen. Paul took a step towards me, his eyes softening considerably at the sight of my glistening eyes. Before I could stop him from his pity party, he pulled me into his warm arms and held me to his chest.

"Finn brushed you off?" He asked as he pulled away a few minutes later.

I shrugged, "I'm used to it. I was trying to tell him about Jamie."

"What has Jamie done now?" Paul asked curiously.

"She's actually done something good." I smiled. "She's taking my advice and is going to finish grad school on her own. And she might even come for Thanksgiving!"

Paul smiled widely at the sight of my own rather large smile, "That's great, Mar!"

"I know!"

The two of us were quiet for a few minutes until Paul broke the comfortable silence, "So have you talked to Finn yet about the fertility testing?"

"No, I haven't and it's really none of your business anyway." I snapped and stormed out of the kitchen angrily. Way to ruin my brief good mood, Paul.

It had been only a few weeks ago when I was tested and I still hadn't said anything to Finn about it. I didn't want to; I didn't know how to. We were still trying, but nothing was happening and that caused the two of us to become very tense around the other. That was why he was throwing himself into work more than usual. That left me with only Grams and Paul since I was in no place to start writing another book at the moment. If I did, some character was going to end up dead unnecessarily.

Xxx

Even though Finn and I kept our distance from each other during the day, we still stayed busy at night. It was getting to the point where it was nothing more than a job; a task that had to be done and wasn't very much enjoyed. It was tearing us apart and I was afraid that if I didn't say something to him soon something big was going to happen.

But when I woke up one morning with my stomach rolling and the realization that my period was a few days late, I felt hopeful. This was the answer to my prayers. I didn't want to get my hopes up too high, so I said nothing as I sat and ate breakfast with Grams and Finn. Of course ten minutes after I ate my pancakes I had to run to the bathroom and promptly throw them up. Luckily neither one of them noticed the barf fest going on.

Once I cleaned up I left the house under the guise of going to the store to pick up a few things and drove to Forks. I wasn't about to go to Noel's where everyone would see me buying a pregnancy test and tell everyone else about it. If the result was negative I didn't want to have to answer questions about that.

Thankfully, I ran into no one at the store in Forks and drove back home chugging down a large bottle of water on the way. By the time I got back to the house, Grams was gone and Finn was holed up in the den as usual working on yet another manual. I ran up the stairs to the bathroom and prepared myself for what I was about to do.

Two minutes later I felt my world crash down on me once again. Negative, there was no baby. I sank to the floor with the strip clutched in my hand and felt the tears rush to my eyes begging for release. And I let them out; I sat there on the cold bathroom tile and started crying. Crying for my empty womb, my strained marriage and my cowardice.

I had no idea how long I sat there until the door crashed open and Paul stormed in looking frantic. Once his eyes met my own swollen and red ones, his face softened. And when he noticed the strip in my hand he plopped down on the floor beside me and pulled me into his lap. His warm arms held me as I sobbed into his chest, wondering why my own husband wasn't here to comfort me.

"It's going to be alright, Mar." He whispered soothingly as his large hands ran up and down my back.

I wanted to tell him that I severely doubted that, but instead I kept my mouth shut and burrowed further into his warm chest.

Xxx

I'd been pretty depressed during the weeks that led up to Thanksgiving. I knew Grams was concerned about me, but after Paul talked to her she seemed satisfied with whatever he told her. Finn however, was completely oblivious to what I was going through. We were pulling farther and farther apart from each other, only coming together at night for 'necessary business'. A piece of my heart broke every time he rolled away from me when it was over, but I still said nothing.

The only ray of sunshine in my otherwise dark world was that Jamie was coming home for Thanksgiving. So with Grams' help I started to whip up a feast on Thanksgiving morning. Thanksgiving was going to be Grams, Jamie, Paul, Finn and I this year and I was hoping despite what was going on in my marriage, today would be an alright day.

"It smells delicious, Mar." Paul grinned wolfishly as he walked into the kitchen rubbing his belly.

I smiled and pushed against his chest, "Get out of here, you're not getting anything until we're all seated around the table. And we won't be able to do that until Jamie gets here."

Paul sighed dramatically, "I'm dying of hunger here!"

I rolled my eyes at him, "Don't be dramatic, as soon as you got here I saw you dig into our leftover waffles."

"Fine, I'll go see if Jamie is here yet."

I went back to stirring the gravy and when I looked up again Jamie was standing in the doorway holding a can of cranberry sauce with Paul standing behind her with a grin.

"Hey Mar." She smiled as Grams took the can of cranberry sauce from her.

"Jamie." I smiled and moved forward towards her to pull her into my arms. She didn't hesitate like she used to, this time she stepped right into my arms and held me tight until someone's throat clearing interrupted our moment. I looked up to see Finn standing there with a blank look on his face; a look I had been becoming used to over the last few weeks.

"Can we eat now? I have to get back to my manual."

Jamie scoffed, "I'm sure the people buying the vibrator you're writing about won't even bother to read your instructions."

Both Paul and I had to stifle our laughter at that, Grams said nothing but when I turned to look at her there was a little smile gracing her face. Finn didn't say anything either, instead he walked to the dining room table and sat down before he looked towards the rest of us expectantly. I shot him an 'I'm pissed at you right now look' but he just continued to sit there with the same damn expression on his face.

"Okay, well it's time to eat." I said forcing a smile back on my face. "I've made all the traditional Jameson fare and something a little extra for Jamie."

"You made my special sweet potatoes?" Jamie smiled widely as she helped me carry food to the table.

"Yup." I nodded, "but you might want to take all that you want now before Paul gets to it. Actually, everyone get what they want first before we let Paul at it."

Jamie chuckled, "I thought I noticed your significant bulk, Paul. Last time I saw you, you were a scrawny and awkward fifteen year old."

Paul grinned, "Last time I saw you, pipsqueak, you were a very awkward twelve year old."

"Hey, no need to bring that up, thanks." Jamie laughed.

With Jamie and Paul there, dinner was a relatively pleasant experience. Finn said almost nothing, which seemed to be fine with the rest of us. Once the main courses were cleared away Grams and I served our joint effort pumpkin pie and I retreated to the bathroom while everyone else was moaning in pleasure over the delicious confection.

I was almost to the bathroom when Finn's cell phone sitting on one of the tables in the hall caught my eye. The right light was flashing, indicating he had a message. I picked it up quickly, with every intention of taking it to him, when instead I flipped it open to see who the message was from: Scott Bengan; his agent.

What the hell did that guy want now? A part of me blamed him for Finn's distance and even though I knew it was wrong I called his voicemail, put in his pass code and listened to his message. I knew it was wrong of me, but I couldn't stop myself.

"Yo Finn, I've got another job for you. Give me a call when you get this." His voice said.

I was about to hang up and take his phone to him when an older message from a week ago started to play, immediately catching my attention with the serious tone of the speaker.

"Finn Donnelly, this is Dr. Avery calling to let you know the results of your test. Your sample shows that you are infertile. I'm sorry to say that you are unable to have children. Please call if you have any questions or concerns."

My mouth dropped open as his phone slid out of my hand and hit the wood floor with a clunk. I stood there for a minute before Paul came in, concern written on his face.

"What's wrong, Mar?"

I didn't reply, but his voice did shake me out of my shock. Instead of saying anything to him, I marched past him and back into the dining room where Grams, Jamie and Finn sat still eating their pumpkin pie. Paul followed me back in and watched me curiously as I marched up to Finn and got in his face.

"When were you going to tell me?" I snapped.

"Tell you what?" He asked in confusion.

"You know what! Don't give me that bullshit; I just heard the message on your phone!"

His face paled noticeably and he hesitated a minute before all the blood rushed back into his face and yelled at me, "Well, when were you going to tell me?"

"Tell you what?"

"That you had been to the doctor?"

"I had nothing to tell you from that!" I shot back. "I am completely healthy! However, how could you not tell me that you are infertile? You've known for a week and yet you've still had sex with me, making me think that there was still hope for us to have a baby. Do you have any idea how depressed I've been over the last few weeks? No, you haven't because you haven't paid any attention to me. I thought I was pregnant a few weeks ago and got my hopes up only to get shot down. I guess if I'd known that you really were shooting blanks I wouldn't have thought that at all!"

Silence; silence like I had never before experienced in my life followed my outburst. I knew Grams, Jamie and Paul had to be extremely uncomfortable, but I could tell they were frozen in place, unable to look away from what was happening between Finn and me.

"Yeah, well, how do you think I feel knowing that I can't give you the one thing you want more than anything? Probably more than you even want me! I can't even get my wife pregnant!"

"I want you out." I stated seriously ignoring the surprised faces of those around me. "I can't have you in this house, around me, knowing that you betrayed me."

"How did I betray you?"

"You slept with her you jack ass, when you knew nothing was going to come from it!" Jamie yelled. "So, get the hell out before I forcibly remove your ass."

In that moment, I loved my sister more than anything. She really had changed for the better and I felt tears sting my eyes as she sent me a comforting look right before she turned a glare back at Finn. Finn didn't say anything, and thankfully stood up and stormed out of the dining room leaving the four of us in silence.

Jamie was the first to move as she wrapped me up in a hug which Grams immediately joined. Paul stood off to the side for a minute before I held out my hand to him. Then it was the four of us standing in the dining room hugging as my husband packed up his shit upstairs and stormed out of the house.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I don't own! Song credit to The Maine**

**Sorry for the delay, I had a busy weekend unpacking some of my stuff into my new room, trick-or-treating with 12 year olds, carving pumpkins, making cookies, and holding my cousin's one month old baby. All in all I had a good weekend, and I would've put something up yesterday when I got back, but I haven't been feeling well. Just a warning that updates might be slower these next few weeks as I have a paper, test, and a Spanish composition coming up. Thanks again for the reviews and alerts!

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"_You can rough me up,_

_You can break me down,_

_Baby don't stop now._

_You can use me up 'till it all runs out,_

_Baby don't stop now._

_I'm all yours, _

_I'm all yours somehow,_

_baby don't stop now."_

**Don't Stop Now

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**

Following the mess that was Thanksgiving I threw myself into writing my next book. I had nothing better to do since there was really no hope of a baby now. There wasn't even a husband around, not that he could give me a baby anyway.

My next book would be a continuation of my fan favorite character, Alex Wesley, the unlucky geek that kept getting wrapped up in Government conspiracies and wronged mafia leaders. My agent was ecstatic that I was writing again, but I couldn't be that excited about it.

Especially after the discussion I had had with Finn a week after the Thanksgiving fiasco.

_The house was noticeably empty as I opened the door to see Finn standing on the other side. He looked down at me with a brief smile before I stepped aside and let him in without a word. He'd called last night asking if he could talk to me about our future. I wasn't sure what he was going to say and I wasn't sure what I wanted him to say for that matter._

"_I've done a lot of thinking over the past week and even before that when I received the results," Finn began as he pulled some papers from one of the pockets in his coat, "and I think it's best for both of us if we divorce."_

"_What?" I gasped wondering how he had even gotten papers drawn up that fast. But then I remembered that his agent's brother was a very successful divorce lawyer and the two of us didn't have many shared assets. That meant that the two of us would probably officially be divorced a little after the New Year._

_Finn ran a hand through his hair, "You want children more than anything, Mar, and I can't give them to you. If we were to stay together you would sacrifice that dream and I'm not going to be responsible for taking it away and making you bitter. You'd only grow to hate me; hell, we'd grow to hate each other."_

"_I love you though Finn." I sighed even though I knew he was right. Having children was one of my top priorities and that desire had grown as I continued to get older._

"_I love you too, Mar, and there will always be a part of me that does. But if we stay together we're only going to hurt each other worse. I want you to be able to find a man that can love you and give you what I can't."_

I was now a legally separated woman. It was strange to think that I was. When I was a teenager I always knew that when I married I wanted it to be the only time I would do so. And went I met Finn I was sure he was the best candidate to achieve that with. Fate had other plans though and there was no point fighting it, I just needed to accept it.

"Marilyn, do you want to come with me and Paul's Mom to Christmas shop?" Grams asked from the doorway, already dressed in her winter coat and gloves.

"No, I think I'm going to take a walk outside and get some fresh air." I replied. "Be careful and don't spoil us too much."

"I'll try not to." She smiled before she walked away. I knew that wouldn't last; she always ended up spoiling Jamie, Paul and I. Not that we minded too much.

After the front door shut behind her, I headed out of the den to put on my books and winter coat. It wasn't too cold outside to walk around and I needed some fresh air. There was only a thin layer of snow covering the ground as I walked across the side yard and into the woods beyond. Buck would have been pissed if he saw me walking into the woods. One of his biggest rules for Jamie and I had been never ever to go in the forest no matter what we saw. But I was a grown up now, and his biggest fear was probably us getting lost or hurt in there. I could take care of myself now; I had to take care of myself now. Buck was gone, my Dad didn't care, and even though Finn and I were technically still married, we wouldn't be for long.

I'd been walking for what felt like ten minutes when I saw something move out of the corner of my eye. I quickly turned to investigate but saw nothing but trees.

"I'm seeing things." I whispered as I shook my head and kept walking.

A few minutes later I saw movement again and yet again saw nothing upon closer inspection. Buck's words echoed in my mind and I decided it was probably time to head back home. I turned around and started walking out of the woods, keeping my eyes out for any sight of movement. That's when I stopped and listened. Besides the sound of my breathing, it was eerily silent.

That's when it happened. I turned around just in time to see a man come flying at me. I screamed, the sound echoing off the empty trees that surrounded me, and just as he was about to tackle me to the ground a wolf jumped out of nowhere and tackled him to the forest floor. I screamed as the wolf's teeth tore into the man's flesh, and although my mind was screaming that I run, I was frozen in place.

However, upon closer inspection there was something odd about the man. There was no way his blood red eyes were normal, and any man that had had his flesh ripped off by a freaking wolf would not be fighting back with that much strength. That's when I decided to get the hell out of there.

I turned to start running when another wolf, a large silver one, approached me his eyes darting back and forth between me and the fight going on behind me. He huffed, blowing hot air into my face before he pushed my butt with his muzzle. I stayed frozen in place hoping that I wasn't to be their meal after they were done with the strange 'man.' Instead the silver wolf nudged me again until finally I realized he wanted me to run away. The silver wolf was telling me to run away! And as crazy as that sounded I wasn't about to argue with him.

By the time I ran into the yard I was gasping for breath and collapsed down onto the cold ground, holding my chest. What the hell had just happened to me? Had I just been saved by a large wolf? I sat there on the ground regaining my breath until Paul ran out of the woods buck naked. He didn't seem to pay any attention to his appearance as he scooped me up into his arms, held me close to his body and carried me into the house.

He didn't let me go once we were inside, instead he sat his bare butt on Grams' floral couch and sat me in his lap as he rocked back and forth, clutching me tight to his body. His hands ghosted over my body checking for any sign of injury as he kissed the top of my head and my forehead repeatedly.

"Why are you naked?" I finally asked after he had somewhat calmed down.

"What were you doing in the woods, Marilyn Jameson?" He shot back sternly. "You know better than that! Didn't you listen to a word Buck said?"

"Of course I did! But I thought he was just worried about us getting lost as kids!" I replied. "Hey, wait, how do you know I was in the woods anyway?"

"Well, that's why I'm naked." Paul sighed causing my eyebrows to shoot up into my hairline. "I've got some things I need to tell you and you have to believe that everything I say is true. I would never lie to you, Mar."

"I know. That's why I'm afraid of what I'm about to hear."

Xxx

"Okay so you're telling me that you're the wolf that nudged my butt to get me away from the fight between Jake and that man…wait…vampire?"

Paul nodded and tightened the towel I had forced him to wrap around his waist. I didn't need Grams walking into the house with her Christmas purchases to see Paul standing there naked in her living room. It was bad enough that the image of his fit body was branded into my mind for the rest of my life.

"Yes, I saw you going into the woods and knew I needed to follow you, especially since Jake reported the smell of a leech last night." Paul replied. "He's dead now thanks to Jake and me, thank God."

"Oh my gosh, did Buck know about all of this?" I asked suddenly, remembering all the tribal stories he told us as children.

"Not many people know, Mar. Your Grandfather was raised fearing the woods because of what might be in there. There were never any shape shifters in his generation, but he knew there was a chance. He knew about us though; he saw me change into a wolf once a few years ago."

"So does that mean imprinting is real?" I asked remembering the tale about the third wife.

Paul grew silent and looked everywhere but at me.

"You didn't?" I gasped.

His eyes shot to mine and he nodded sheepishly.

"You imprinted on me?"

He nodded again and took a hesitant step forward. I didn't move back, but I didn't take a step forward either.

"Yes, I did, Mar. But you have to know that I have enjoyed nothing more than being your friend since you came back and I imprinted on you. I don't need anything else, Mar, just your happiness and safety."

I nodded my head slowly trying to process the information overload I had just been dealt. Paul was a wolf, all the guys were wolves, Paul imprinted on me and vampires existed. Yeah, it was a lot to process in a short amount of time.

"Let's be honest here, Paul. Do you love me? As in do you love me more than a friend should?"

He nodded, "I do, but understand that that isn't because of the imprint. The imprint makes me want to be around you, make you happy, keep you safe, not automatically love you. I loved you ten years ago, Mar, and the only thing that has changed about that is that I love you more than I did then."

I nodded in reply; his answer had made me feel better. I didn't want him to be obligated to love me. I loved him too in my own way, and now that Finn was out of the picture I wasn't going to try to kid myself into thinking that I wouldn't eventually fall in love with Paul. We were best friends; we knew everything about each other. We already had the perfect relationship; it would only take one move to turn it into a romantic one. But I wasn't ready for that yet and he knew that.

"Paul, I loved you ten years ago too and-"

"You don't have to explain it to me, Mar, I know." Paul interrupted. "Now I want to make something clear, you are never to go into the woods again."

"I know."

"Good. Well, I better run home and put some clothes on since I seem to have shredded right through my other ones."

He was almost to the door when I called out his name. After he turned to look at me I continued, "You're still coming to Christmas Eve dinner right?"

"Of course."


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I don't own! Song credit to Relient K**

**Thanks again for all of the reviews!

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"_Can't hold a candle to her_

'_cause all the moths get in the way._

_And they'll begin to chew her,_

_entire attire until it frays._

_For she outshines anyone whoever might_

_Dare to bask in the same candlelight."_

**Candlelight

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"_Here comes Santa Claus, here comes Santa Claus, right down Santa Claus lane-"_

"If I have to listen to this song one more time I am going to impale myself on that clothes rack." Jamie muttered as the two of us stood and watched as Grams looked over the men's clothes. She was trying to find a burgundy shirt that she was sure would look wonderful on Paul; however it wasn't that easy considering the size needed to fit him.

"Oh it's not that bad, Jamie. This is only the fourth time it has played since we've been in here. At least it's not 'Holly Jolly Christmas' which I think has played at least six times."

I loved Christmas music, but there were only so many times a person could go hearing a song in one day and not end up hating it. The same thing had happened when I was a little kid to one of the Disney songs my sister had a tape of. She played that thing at least ten times a day…until I took the tape and destroyed it. To this day I don't think she knows what happened to her Hercules tape.

"Finally!" Grams shouted, causing both Jamie and I to sigh in relief.

With the burgundy shirt in hand, which I had to admit would look wonderful on Paul, the three of us made our way to one of the checkout counters with our purchases in hand. I was also getting Paul some clothes, but his real present was already taken care of and was something I didn't buy in the mall.

"I think Paul will appreciate the book I found him before I left campus." Jamie stated casually as the items I picked out for Paul were scanned. "It's a lovely book called 'When enough is enough: muscle obsession'."

I rolled my eyes and chuckled a bit, "He's not obsessed with his body, Jamie."

"How else did he get into that type of physical condition? For all we know he and his buddies could have a severe physiological issue that needs to be dealt with!"

Little did she know that it was more like a genetic issue, not psychological. But I couldn't tell her that their physical appearance was a side effect of them shifting into large vampire killing wolves, she probably wouldn't believe that anyway.

"Last time I checked you were getting your Masters in Communication, not Psychology."

"I took psychology classes in my undergrad, Mar."

"So did I doofus, and he doesn't have a psychological issue. He is just in good shape."

"Well, I'm still giving him the book." Jamie replied as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Don't worry; I got him something else as well."

"I'm almost afraid to ask what it is." I muttered.

"It better be something appropriate and thoughtful, Jamie." Grams warned as she poked a finger into Jamie's arm.

"Of course it is! Besides the book I got him a huge box of these amazing cookies from a bakery down the street from my apartment. They'll probably be gone in ten minutes, so you guys better sneak one before he inhales them tomorrow night."

When the three of us returned home from our shopping trip we went our separate ways. Grams went to wrap up the last of her presents, Jamie went to raid the fridge and I went into the garage to check on my present for Paul.

I was greeted by the sound of a small bark from the makeshift kennel I built with materials left over from when Buck and Grams had beagles for hunting. With a smile I kneeled down and opened the little door, holding out my arms to the German Shepherd Collie mix puppy I got Paul.

A week ago I had been sitting around reading the newspaper trying to figure out what to get Paul for Christmas while I read the comics. That was when an add on the opposite page caught my eye. 'Puppies!' Of course my heart had melted at the idea. Who could resist puppies? So the next day I drove down to Forks to the old man's house. His German Shepherd had given birth to five puppies and by the time I got there three were left. There were two boys that the guy informed me he had not named, but then there was the girl left. He called her Belle.

"Come here Belle." I smiled as the black and brown puppy ran into my arms with affectionate licks to my hands and chin. "Paul is going to love you isn't he? And I'm going to have to come over and see you every day."

"Mar! Paul is walking up the drive!" Jamie hissed through the side door of the garage.

I sprung into action immediately and pushed Belle back into the kennel before I jumped up and ran back into the house the back way. I skidded to a stop in the kitchen where Grams had started to make a soup, so to look natural I picked up the spoon and started stirring the pot, trying to calm my racing heart.

"Hey Mar! Something smells delicious!" Paul greeted as he walked into the kitchen to take a look at what was on the stove.

"Get that big nose out of here until dinner is ready."

Paul pouted before he grabbed a muffin from the bread basket beside me and darted out of the kitchen before I could stop him. Ha! Well at least he hadn't figured out that I was up to something.

Xxx

On Christmas Eve day I woke to the sight of a light dusting of snow on the ground. I smiled at the sight; happy to see that it would, in fact, be a white Christmas.

The three of us spent the day in the kitchen getting the food ready for tonight and after Jamie got caught stealing ingredients she was thrown out and put on present duty; wrapping the last of the presents and arranging them under the tree in the living room.

By the time five o clock rolled around Grams and I finally finished in the kitchen and went our separate ways to change for dinner. Before I changed my clothes though, I headed out to the garage to grab Belle. I brought her inside and after I tied a red ribbon around her neck I left her in the back porch until present time.

Just as I came down the stairs dressed in a pair of dark jeans and my very comfy red sweater, Paul walked through the front door looking very handsome in his leather jacket. In his hand he carried a bag full of presents which Jamie took from him to place under the tree.

"I've got another one out in my truck." Paul stated. "You guys go ahead and I'll be at the table in a minute."

While Paul went back out to his truck, Jamie and I joined Grams in putting the dishes full of food out on the dining room table. As I did so I couldn't help but remember what had happened a month ago in this same room. In February the divorce would be final and I'd still be left with no baby to show for it.

Paul came into the room a few minutes later with a wide smile on his face as he dramatically sniffed the air like a dog. Jamie quirked a brow before she threw her napkin at him and I just continued to pour some sparkling grape juice into our cups.

"It smells delicious, ladies." Paul grinned.

"You know me; I slaved over the hot stove all day for you." Jamie joked.

Paul laughed, "If you cooked this I don't think I want any."

"I am not that bad!" Jamie cried defensively.

"Yeah Paul." I agreed with a laugh. "Besides you eat anything, I've seen it."

"True; I'll give you that."

"Alright you three, let's say grace and start eating this meal Marilyn and I worked hard on." Grams interrupted our shenanigans with a small smile.

As usual, it didn't take very long for Paul to eat his way through both his first and second courses. By the time Paul was on his third helpings Jamie and I were both slumped back in our seats, our bellies full of yummy Christmas food and we hadn't even made it to the pies yet!

"Who wants pie?" Grams asked as she grabbed the pumpkin and chocolate pies off of the buffet.

"Me! One of each please." Paul grinned as he held out his dessert plate eagerly.

Jamie moaned, "I'll eat mine after gifts."

"I think I can get down a small piece of pumpkin, Grams." I replied as I held out my own dessert plate to her.

While Paul and I ate our pie Jamie and Grams started to clean up dinner and by the time we were done, most of the cleaning up had already been done by the two of them.

"Present time!" Jamie yelled excitedly, just like she did when she was eight years old. It was nice to see that some things never changed. Jamie had always been that kid that woke up the whole family at three in the morning to open presents. It got to the point where I finally shoved my dresser in front of my door before I went to bed on Christmas Eve so she couldn't barge into my room. I loved Christmas too, but seven was a much more appropriate present opening hour than three.

"How old are you?" Paul asked with a teasing smile.

"Shut up." Jamie called over her shoulder as she dove down onto the floor next to the Christmas tree.

"Well, since you're down there you can pass out the gifts, Jamie." Grams suggested.

It didn't take her long to pass out the presents and by the time she was done we each had a pile of about five. Jamie insisted on going first because she was the youngest and proceeded to open my gift to her which was the sweater I'd seen her admiring the other day at the store.

"Thanks Mar. How did you buy that without me knowing?"

"I have my ways." I replied. "Mostly I learned from Grams how to do that."

Grams smiled, "Yeah, I bought both of you a few presents the other day and you didn't even notice."

After a few rounds of present opening Paul was ripping the paper off of Jamie's present; the book we had had a conversation about at the mall. His face was priceless as he read the title and looked up at me with a quirked brow. He then turned his gaze to Jamie.

"Mar says you're just 'healthy', but I have my doubts." She stated calmly.

Paul started laughing, "Believe me, if I had a muscle obsession you would know. But thanks anyway Jamie."

Jamie huffed, "That's not your only gift, doofus."

Paul looked around his pile and found the box that contained the cookies Jamie had told us about. When Paul lifted off the lid I was hit with the delicious aroma of star shaped pecan sandies.

"Pecan sandies!" I yelled excitedly. "And you didn't get me any?"

Pecan sandies were my absolute favorite cookie and unfortunately people only seemed to make them around Christmas.

"I figured Paul would share with you." Jamie replied.

"You better share, Noels." I warned as Paul stuffed a cookie into his mouth.

He smiled, his lips and teeth coated in powdered sugar before he offered the box to me. I smiled back and took two of the delicious stars.

Once all of the presents from around the tree were gone I turned to Paul with a smile on my face just as he was turning to do the same.

"I have something else for you." I stated as he opened his mouth to say something too.

"So do I, for you."

"Alright then, I'm going to go get it and meet you back here." I said before I stood up and headed to the back porch where Belle was waiting.

I grabbed the box I had decorated and put strategic holes into and then opened the door to see Belle curled up on the old wicker chair on the porch. Her ears perked up as I walked out onto the porch and I smiled at how adorable she looked in her red ribbon. Paul was going to love her. After I got her settled into the box with minimal barking I hoped Paul's super hearing hadn't picked up on, I walked back into the living room where Paul was waiting with a large box by his feet.

He quirked a brow at the sight of me carrying a large green box and took it from me when I offered it out to him.

"Who is opening theirs first?" I asked.

"Same time." Jamie suggested with a knowing smile.

Paul and I both nodded before we turned to our boxes. Mine was decorated with cute penguin paper and as I pulled off the lid I noticed that there were holes punched into his box as well. When I finally looked down into the box it was to see a black lab puppy curled up with a green and red ribbon tied around his neck.

"Paul you didn't!" I gasped as I lifted my puppy, which I noticed was a boy as I pulled him out of the box and onto my lap.

"You did the same thing!" Paul laughed as he pulled Belle out onto his lap.

Both Grams and Jamie were laughing and smiling as the two of us took in the sight of our new puppies.

"What's her name?" Paul asked curiously as he stroked in between her ears. "I accidently named yours and was hoping you did the same."

"How do you accidentally name a dog?" Jamie snickered from the floor.

"She already had a name; it's Belle." I replied. "And yeah, how do you accidentally name a dog?"

Paul chuckled, "Well the first night I brought him home he immediately found our T-Rex and ripped off his tail. Somehow in that panic of fixing him I ended up calling the dog Rex and it stuck."

I laughed at that, "I like it."

"I can't believe you two had the same idea." Grams laughed as she got up to inspect both of our puppies.

I smirked, "Great minds think alike."

"Jeez, where's my puppy?"

"Shut up Jamie, you killed your pet fish." Paul laughed.

"Unfair! Moby Dick jumped out of the bowl."

I snorted, "I could make a comment about that, but I'll keep my mouth shut. Anyway, thanks Paul, I love Rex."

Paul smiled, "And I love Belle, thank you Mar."


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I don't own! Song credit to Good Charlotte**

**Thank you to the few who actually reviewed the last chapter. Keep in mind that reviews help motivate me into writing more and sometimes provide me with ideas for future chapters

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"_If you want me to wait, I will wait for you_

_If you tell me to stay, I'll stay right through_

_If you don't want to say anything at all, I'm happy wondering."_

**Wondering

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After spending Christmas morning with Jamie and Grams, Paul came to pick me up for the Christmas party over at Emily and Sam's house. I was strangely nervous even though I knew them. I knew what they all were now, I was one of them: an imprint now. I was also nervous because this was the first time I was going to be around them after the Finn fiasco.

Of course as soon as Paul walked into the house and saw my face, he already had me figured out. I chuckled a bit as I remembered how much that used to bug me when we were younger, but now I found it very comforting. Although he could probably read me even better than before considering I was his imprint now.

Rex barked excitedly and dashed past my legs to greet Paul at the door, his tongue darting out to plant kisses all over Paul's hands as he rubbed his silky ears. I'd only had Rex for a night, but I already loved the little puppy. After Paul left last night I discovered just how well Paul had trained him in the short amount of time he had him. It made me feel a bit guilty; I hadn't taught Belle much of anything. Oh well, he'd remedy that soon. His strong alpha presence would soon have her trained just as well as Rex was.

"How is he behaving?" Paul asked curiously.

"Really good; you taught him well." I replied as I put on my coat.

Paul nodded, "Alright, what's up with you?"

"What do you mean?" I asked dumbly.

Paul quirked an eyebrow at me before he looked sternly at Rex, "Stay."

Rex immediately parked his butt on the hallway floor and stayed there as the two of us walked out of the door. I heard his barks after the door was closed, but the two of us ignored them and made our way to his truck parked in the driveway.

"Are you nervous, Mar?" Paul asked with a grin. "You've met them before."

"I know! But its different now!"

"Oh, because you know that you're an imprint now?"

"Exactly! And I know that all your friends secretly turn into huge wolves like you!"

Paul laughed at me as the two of us got buckled and he turned over the engine. I reached to turn on the heat immediately, but Paul beat me to it; our fingers brushing together. I shivered a bit at the contact and pulled my hand back into my lap.

"So what are you afraid of?"

I shrugged because I honestly didn't know, "I don't know. Like maybe they'll think less of me or something."

"Why would they do that?" Paul asked incredulously.

"Well, I'm going to be a divorced woman."

"They know the details, Mar and they're not going to think any less of you, trust me. Now will they tease you for being my imprint? Yes, but you'll get used to it. And yes, they'll probably make hints that we can be together romantically now that Finn is out of the picture, but I know that that is not what the two of want at this point, so just ignore it okay?"

I nodded at his words, hoping that despite what he said they wouldn't make hints at a relationship between the two of us. I wasn't even officially divorced yet! I needed time before the two of us finally gave in to the feelings we had had for years and the imprint only served to make those feelings even more potent.

"Hey cheer up, little Max is going to be there."

I brightened up at that; I still desperately wanted a baby. Now was definitely not the time for one, but I could live out my desire through little Max Call.

"Just don't hog him." Paul warned and I laughed at that because I had a feeling I just might.

Xxx

"Marilyn! You look great!" Emily greeted me with a big smile with her baby Will attached to her hip.

I gave Emily a wide smile and bent to give little Will a kiss on his chubby cheek. As I continued into the house with Paul behind me, a supportive hand on my shoulder I greeted the rest of the pack. Kim greeted me first in the living room, jumping up to wrap me up in a hug.

"I'm so glad you could come!"

"Me too." I replied with a smile and realized I had been silly to be so nervous about coming today.

The large men sitting around the room sent me nice smiles before they shot grins over in Paul's direction, but they didn't say anything to embarrass either of us. Of course that could have been from the warning growl Jacob gave the rest of them.

Paul had explained the whole Pack dynamic to me one day. I knew that Sam used to be the alpha, but shortly after the birth of their daughter he had given up phasing and the position of alpha had automatically gone to Jacob who really, considering his lineage, should have been alpha in the first place. Looking at him, I could see why he made such a good alpha. He was larger than the rest of them, towering over us women in the house, and his voice was naturally commanding.

"Hello Marilyn." Jacob greeted with a smile.

I craned my head back to look up at the alpha and sent him a small smile of my own. "You can call me Mar, Jacob."

"And you can call me Jake." He replied. "If you don't mind, I'd like to have a brief word with you."

I nodded my head hesitantly and shot Paul a confused look before I followed Jake into the hallway. When he turned to me it was easy to see that he was in his alpha shoes at the moment, his eyes hard instead of the sparkling brown they were when he was being friendly.

"I'm sure Paul made it clear about the forest, but I want to make something clear. You are never to go into the forest again unless accompanied by one of us. But that situation is highly unlikely."

"I know."

"Good. I also want to make sure you know exactly how the imprint works."

"I know it means that Paul and I supposed to be together."

Jacob nodded, "I know about your circumstances and I'm not going to let anyone pressure the two of you into something you're not ready for. Nature knew what it was doing with you two, so we should let nature run its course."

"Thank you, Jake."

His eyes turned soft again and sparkled in the dim light of the hallway, "No problem. By the way we're going tubing in a few days, I'm sure Paul was already planning on dragging you along, but I hear your sister is in town."

"Yup, until after New Year's."

"Bring her along; I haven't seen her in ages."

"Alright."

Jacob and Jamie were just about the same age and had been somewhat reluctant friends back before we moved away from La Push. It had always been a touchy relationship. I knew that Jamie had a crush on him, but it was obvious that Jacob had harbored no feelings like that for her. Instead he picked on her all the time like she was his little sister, which only served to confuse her feelings for him even more.

I wondered what she would say when I told her that it was Jacob that invited her to go tubing. If she did go, it would be interesting to see how the two of them would act around each other now that they were older and hadn't seen each other for a decade.

Once our little hallway talk was done the two of us went our separate ways. Jacob went back into the living room where the guys were hanging out waiting for the food to be finished. Instead of going into the wolves' den I headed towards the kitchen where the imprints were working on dinner. Emily was at the stove stirring numerous pots on the stovetop and Kim was working on slicing up the large turkey and ham that had been pulled from the oven. Meanwhile Sally sat over in one of the chairs feeding Max a bottle.

"Hey Sally, don't you need to finish mixing your bean salad?" Emily asked as I hovered awkwardly in the middle of the kitchen.

"Crap, yeah. Hey Mar, would you mind feeding Max the rest of his bottle?" Sally asked.

"No problem." I smiled.

Once Sally was at the refrigerator and I had Max in my arms feeding him his bottle I felt my heart melt. The feel of him in my arms was wonderful and my heart ached and melted at the same time. How much longer was I going to have to wait to have my own baby in my arms? I pushed that thought away though, even though my heart longed for a baby, I was in no position to have one at the moment. It was obvious to me that the Father of my children would be Paul and I wasn't sure if I was ready for that idea yet. I was still legally married to Finn and too comfortable with the friendship Paul and I had built again.

"So Mar, what did Paul end up getting you?" Kim asked curiously as she continued slice the meat. "He wanted it to be a secret, but he seemed pretty excited about it."

I chuckled as Max continued to work away on his bottle, "He got me a puppy named Rex. And I got him a puppy named Belle."

Emily laughed, "Are you serious?"

"Yes." I replied with a wide smile. "Belle is a shepherd collie mix and Rex is a black lab. Of course Paul trained Rex before he gave him to me, while I handed Belle over with no sort of training."

"And neither of you had any idea that the other one was also buying a dog?" Sally questioned.

I shook my head, "It was just a coincidence or a case of great minds thinking alike."

"I'd like to think it was the second." Paul stated as he walked into the kitchen.

He was probably scoping out to see if the food was done yet. So far I had noticed a few curious noses and eyes casted into the kitchen trying to determine when the food would be ready. The other girls were used to it, but I noticed it every time I heard suspiciously loud sniffing noises.

"Of course you would." Kim rolled her eyes.

Paul smirked before he turned his gaze down to me where I sat feeding Max. The grin slipped from his face and a smile took its place. He stared at me dreamily for a few minutes until Kim dangled a piece of ham in front of his face, trying to divert his attention from my flaming face. As he quickly ate the piece of ham I sent Kim a grateful smile to which she smirked knowingly.

Xxx

"Guess who invited you to come tubing with us, Jamie?"

The two of us were seated on the living room floor playing with Rex as he ran back and forth between the two of us and the different toys we held. Grams had gone to bed an hour ago, leaving us with a plate full of pecan sandies and goodnight kisses.

Jamie quirked a brow, "Paul?"

"Nope, Jacob did. We're going as a group."

"Jacob? As in Jacob Black?"

"The one and only." I replied with a smile, wondering in what direction this conversation was going to go.

"Last time I saw that kid he'd just tripped me as a way of saying goodbye to me." Jamie scowled.

"He was thirteen, Jamie. I can assure you that he is very mature now; he has a lot of responsibility."

Jamie laughed derisively, "I've gotta see this. Alright, I'll come. When is this happening?"

"Tomorrow; we leave at one."

One thing was for sure; tomorrow was going to be an interesting day.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I don't own! Song credit to Boys Like Girls**

**Thanks again for the reviews, they give me the motivation I need on those nasty days when writer's block tries to take over.

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"_Turn it up, its five minutes to midnight_

_You're coming home with me tonight."_

**Five Minutes to Midnight

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I woke up to the sound of the sound of someone vomiting which was not exactly the best way to start the morning. From the cursing that followed the last heave I knew it wasn't Grams, which left Jamie as the only other candidate. I quickly pulled on my robe and slipped on my slippers before I went down the hall to the bathroom to check on my little sister.

Sure enough she was hunched over on the cold bathroom tile, her hair mussed and her face pale. Basically she looked like shit, and I could tell that she probably felt like it too.

"When did this start?" I asked as I pulled out a washcloth and wet it for her to clean off her face.

"Three o clock this morning." Jamie groaned as she accepted the cool wash cloth from me. "Obviously I will not be going tubing today. I think I caught whatever that kid had when I went to the store yesterday. He sneezed on me."

"Gross."

"Tell me about it."

"Do you want me to stay with you today?"

Jamie shook her head, "I've got Grams and you should go and have fun with Paul and his overly muscular friends."

Leave it to Jamie to hold nothing back even when she was hunched over the toilet with all of her stomach's contents within the bowl. I nodded anyway and quickly turned my head away when she turned and started heaving into the toilet again.

"Ugh just shoot me now." Jamie groaned.

"I'll go tell Grams. You probably have nothing left to barf, so we can set you up real nice on the couch."

She nodded weakly and wiped her face again as I went in search of Grams. I knew from past experiences of my own that Grams was an excellent care taker. She had done a fabulous job taking care of Buck in his last few months, and as children she watched Jamie and I when we had to stay home from school sick.

By the time Paul came to pick me up for tubing, not only was I dressed warmly and ready to go, but Jamie was all situated nice and cozy on the couch. Paul quirked a brow when he saw Jamie curled up on the couch with Rex at her feet, covered in two blankets and clutching a barf bowl and the remote.

"I take it Jamie isn't coming." Paul stated.

"Nope, she's been barfing all morning. She's in good hands with Grams, so I'm not too worried about her at the moment."

"Too bad, I think Jacob was excited to see her."

"So he could trip me and I could face plant into the snow?" Jamie called from the living room.

Paul laughed at that, "Oh well, we'll reintroduce you two eventually. Hey wait…didn't you have a crush on Jake, Jamie?"

"Shut up, Paul."

"Well that's a yes." He chuckled.

"Okay so maybe I did back then, but I was thirteen and dumb."

"I'll agree with that." Paul laughed.

"Hey!"

"Alright, we better get going." I interrupted with an amused smile. As much as I would have preferred to see how long their verbal sparring could go, I didn't want to be late getting to the place where we would be tubing. Plus I needed to get out of the house; the smell of vomit was lingering despite all the Lysol I used.

Everyone else was already at the hill when the two of us finally arrived. However, judging by the untouched snow on the hill it appeared that they had waited for us. As we moved closer to the large group I noticed that the kids were bundled up and clutching the strings to their little sleds. Sally and Max were the only two absent, with the excuse that Max was a little too young for tubing.

I immediately grabbed Lilly and Ben's hand and ran with the two four year olds up the hill, their sleds trailing along behind us. I could hear the rest of the gang running behind us, and by the time the three of us made it to the top they were close behind. Before I knew what was happening I was swept off my feet and racing down the hillside in someone's lap.

Our descent was anything but graceful; at the base of the hill the tube hit a rut of snow and I went flying off the lap I was perched in. I laid there for a minute before the sound of laughter reached my ears. The others up on the hill were laughing at the two of us and when I opened my eyes I saw Paul grinning down at me.

"Well that didn't go according to plan."

"Yeah thanks for that, Noels. I got a face full of snow."

"Better luck next time huh?" He laughed as he threw a handful of snow in my face and turned to race back up the hill with the tube in hand.

I jumped to my feet as fast as I could in my heavy boots and started running up the hill as Kim and Ben went barreling past me on Ben's little red sled. Jared followed closely after on his tube; his arms stretched out trying to grab a hold of the sled and Kim. When I reached the top of the hill everyone but Jake and Paul were down the hill already.

"Where's Jamie?" Jake asked, interrupting my revenge plot against Paul.

"She woke up at three a.m. barfing, we decided it best if she stayed on the couch and was nursed by Grams."

"That's too bad." Jake replied before a grin broke out on his face.

Yet again I felt myself being grabbed and the next thing I knew I was racing down the hillside on Jake's lap as Paul's outraged cries carried from the top of the hill. I watched over Jake's shoulder as Paul jumped on his own tube and started racing down the hillside trying to catch up to the two of us.

Thankfully the second run with Jake went better than the first and instead of being launched from his lap, I stayed in place as our tube came to a gentle stop. But that was ruined a minute later when Paul crashed into the two of us, sending me flying off of Jake's lap and right into the snow. I resurfaced, brushing the snow off of my face, as Jake and Paul watched me laughing hysterically. Neither one of them had suffered from a face full of snow. Bastards.

Lucky for me, Sam and Lilly came down the hill then. Lilly was screaming at the top of her lungs which distracted the two of them from me for a minute. I took the opportunity to pick up two handfuls of snow and tossed them at the sides of their faces. By the time they realized what had happened, I was already on my way back up the hill unfortunately without a tube.

I reached the top of the hill only to see they were close behind me and I had no means of escape.

"Mar! Get over here!" Kim called.

I quickly ran over to where she sat in Ben's sled. Ben was nowhere to be seen and I figured he was probably with Jared this time. But that wasn't important at the moment, what was important was getting away from the two of them. So without further ado I threw myself in front of Kim in the little sled and grabbed the reins as Kim's arms wrapped around my middle. Then the two of us were racing down the hill laughing as we heard Paul and Jake's playful cursing.

"You having fun yet?" Kim asked once our sled came to a stop.

I was about to reply when a snowball hit me in the side of the head. I turned back to Kim with a resolute smile on my face and said: "Lots."

Xxx

Poor Jamie was as weak as a lamb by the time New Years Eve day rolled around. She had stopped throwing up the day we went tubing, but the hours she had spent barfing had drained her. She'd lost at least seven pounds and Grams and I were working on putting some of the color back into her face. I hated to say it, but it was almost comical to see her try to do something before she submitted to sitting back down again with a frustrated groan.

"Ugh! I can't go back to school like this!" Jamie whined in frustration after a hard trip to the bathroom and back.

"You still have a few days, you'll be fine." I assured her. "Unfortunately you'll have to miss out on the New Years Eve party Kim and Jared are throwing tonight. Jake invited you yet again."

Jamie rolled her eyes, "Why is he so interested in seeing me again?"

"You guys were friends back in the day." I replied.

"Yeah, best friends."

"Thanks for that, Sarcasmo," I began and Jamie smiled proudly before I continued on, "Maybe he wants to apologize for being a jerk to you the last time he saw you. However, my guess is that he's curious to see what you're like now. Aren't you curious to see what he's like?"

Jamie shot me a look, "Let me guess. He's freakishly muscular like Paul is and the other guys I've seen."

"He's well built." I shrugged casually. "He's taller than they are though."

Jamie sighed, "Poor guy probably has some psychological disorder. Perhaps their muscles are compensation for something else, if you know what I mean."

"Did you just wink at me?" I laughed.

"Yes. Didn't you catch my drift? They probably have small pe-"

"Yes! I got it the first time, Jamie."

Grams chose that moment to walk into the living room, "What are you girls talking about?"

"Nothing."

"The guys and their freakishly large muscles."

"Well that's nice. Anyway, Jamie I've got some soup for you and I want you to eat the whole bowl."

"Ugh, I don't know if I can."

"You will if you want to get stronger." Grams said simply.

I took that moment to exit the room before Jamie started in on her 'the guys have a disorder' rant and went up to my room to finish getting ready for the evening. I wasn't dressed too fancy as this was a causal pack party. However, I had taken the time to curl my long black hair and I was pretty happy with the result. Usually I just let it go naturally down my back in waves, but tonight since it was the New Year's Eve I figured I needed something special.

I was happy that tomorrow was the start of a new year, it signaled a fresh start for me. Yeah, I wouldn't be divorced until February, but I still felt like I was starting over again. It was going to be a fresh new year and I was ready to face it with my resolutions in tow. Of course, I didn't have many of those this year. I had made long lists in the past that never were completed, but this year's were simple: To not worry so much about having a baby and to spend as much time as I could with those who mattered most to me. Especially Grams and Jamie. It was already a given that I would see Paul pretty much every day, nature had already decided that and I had no objections to it, nor would I if the imprint didn't exist and it was only our old relationship between the two of us again.

Xxx

"So, just out of curiosity who are you going to kiss at midnight?" Kim asked innocently.

Previously the two of us had been talking about my character Alex Wesley and how I had developed him as a character. In the last half hour I figured out that Kim was my number one fan. She'd read each book at least two times and she knew Alex Wesley almost as well as I did. So her question came completely out of left field and left me quiet for a few minutes.

"Paul of course." I replied. "Friends kiss."

Kim looked like she was about to say something, but a throat clearing had her mouth snapping shut. I looked up to see Jake standing behind me looking down at Kim disapprovingly. True to his word he wasn't going to let anyone pressure the two of us into anything we weren't ready for. In that moment my respect for the guy grew tenfold despite what Jamie had to say about him.

At five minutes to midnight her question came slamming back into my brain as I looked at Paul across the room where he was laughing with Jared, Embry and Quil. At the moment I was all alone; Kim and Emily had gone to check on their children and Sally was curled up in one of the chairs asleep, exhausted from a day of entertaining Max.

Almost as if he could feel my eyes on him, Paul glanced up at me with a smile before he turned his head to look at the clock. Everyone else seemed to do so too and wasted no time in seeking out their partner (even if the sleepy head did not appreciate being woken up, thank you very much Embry!) When Paul reached me there was a minute left on the clock and the TV was turned up as the cameras zoomed in on the ball in Times Square.

"I can kiss you on the cheek if you want." Paul whispered.

I chuckled, "You know that we've only ever kissed once? And we were fifteen at the time! If I could do it then, I don't see why I can't kiss you for the New Year."

"Three..."

His eyes got big, but he didn't say a word.

"Two…"

I stepped closer to him.

"One! Happy New Year!"

Our lips connected and it was unlike anything I remembered from our kiss ten years ago. His lips were soft and un-chapped despite the cold weather outside. His hands were warm on my hips and his chest was firm beneath my hands. Our kiss years ago had been pleasing, but nothing like this, not even close. Back then I was worried about how my breath smelled and if I was kissing him right, but now the only thing I could think about was how wonderful it was to be kissing him.

When we pulled away after a few seconds most of the other couples were pretty much having make out sessions around us; leaving those who were single to sit awkwardly. In our case we tried to look anywhere but at them or at each other.

"Who's up for a shot!" Jake yelled with a grin.

"I'll take one!" I replied quickly.

"Me too." Paul answered.


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I don't own! Song credit to Relient K**

**Thanks for the reviews!

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"_I'm over it, yeah behind me now, I'm just over it._

_Over it, yeah I'm finding out I'm just over it."_

**Over It

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It was quiet without Jamie around the house, but I did not miss the sound of her vomiting or her whining at her weakness. Thankfully she had been back to normal by the time it was time for her to drive back to school. Paul, Grams and I saw her off with a promise that she would be back for Spring Break.

In the meantime I spent the whole month of January working on my book; something that made both my agent and my numerous fans in La Push happy. Of course they were disappointed that I wouldn't give anything away to them prematurely, but I assured them that I'd make sure a box of books was delivered specifically to Noels the first day the book would be out.

By the time the day my divorce would be legal arrived, my book was only a few chapters away from completion and Rex was a whole fifteen pounds larger then at Christmas! I was glad he was growing so well, but not when he jumped on my chest to wake me up. After I pushed him off the bed, I glanced at the clock to see that my alarm was mere minutes from going off.

"At least you didn't wake me up too early." I said to the dog that was looking up at me excitedly from his sitting position on the floor of my bedroom.

Today I had to drive into Port Angeles to finalize my divorce with Finn and the lawyer. For the past few days I had been both dreading and looking forward to today. On the one hand, a part of me didn't want to part with Finn, but the other side of me realized that everything he said about us would probably happen if we stayed together. Therefore, the part of me that was looking forward to signing those papers was ready to start life again as just plain old Marilyn Jameson.

Was I thick enough to believe that I would stay Marilyn Jameson for a long time? No. If there was one thing New Years had done for me, it had only confirmed just how right the idea of Paul and I were- not that I was ready for it yet. I needed time to collect myself after this divorce and of course if Paul and I were to have a relationship we needed to get to know each other on that level.

Which was yet another reason why a part of me was looking forward to signing those papers today. After today I was no longer a married woman and therefore would not feel guilty about becoming involved with another man. That meant that whenever I decided I was ready to actually date Paul instead of hang out with him, I could be completely guilt free.

"Are you sure you don't want anyone to come with you today?" Grams asked kindly as the two of us ate our breakfast together.

"No, it's better if I go myself." I replied. "I won't be long."

Paul wanted to come with me, but I refused repeatedly. It was only a drive to Port Angeles to sign some documents in the presence of my soon to be ex husband and the lawyer. Plus I wanted to do it by myself; it was something I _needed _to do myself.

I had to admit that as I walked up to the lawyer's office I was nervous. Finn's car was parked in the small parking lot already signaling that he was there and they were both waiting on me. This was it; in a few minutes I would be a divorced woman; instead of a woman carrying a baby like I thought I would be by now.

"Good morning Mar." Finn greeted with a smile as I walked into the lawyer's office where the two of them were waiting.

Both Finn and the lawyer were sitting down at a long table and after a gesture from the lawyer; I took a seat across from Finn.

"Morning." I smiled back.

"Before we begin I need to make sure that you two don't have any doubts about what we are about to do." The lawyer stated as he laid a pen in front of each of us.

"I'm sure." I stated.

Finn's eyes met mine over the table; the eyes that I had fallen in love with years ago. However, this time when I gazed into them I didn't feel the familiar warmth in my stomach like I always used to. It was gone.

"Me too." Finn replied, his eyes locked on mine searchingly. He hadn't felt it either. It really was over.

After the papers were signed and the lawyer set us loose, the two of us walked outside together to our cars. We both paused when we reached my car, looking at each other nervously.

"I hope you'll be happy with Paul." Finn stated.

"Paul?" I asked in surprised. For all Finn knew we were friends; he didn't know anything about shape shifters and imprinting.

Finn chuckled, "I was always a little jealous of the friendship you guys had even if you hadn't seen him for a long time. And then when I met him I could tell that you two were a much better match than we were, Mar. He'll give you what you need, better than I ever could."

With that said Finn bent down to place a gentle kiss on my forehead before he walked off towards his car. I stood there watching him for a minute before I finally turned and got in my car, a soft smile on my face.

Xxx

Paul was waiting for me when I got home. Grams was gone grocery shopping and Paul was in the living room playing with Rex and Belle. The two puppies were currently vying for Paul's attention, playfully nipping at each other when they received too much attention from their obvious alpha.

"Jeez, where's a camera when you need one?"

Paul's eyes shot up to meet mine and he smiled sheepishly as he got up off the floor. Both dogs started to jump at his heels, but all it took was a look for them both to simmer down and sit obediently on the carpet.

"How did it go?"

"Alright; we parted on a good note."

"How do you feel? Are you alright? Do you need anything?"

I laughed, "I need you to relax. I'm fine, Paul. I was ready for this. Now if you'll excuse me I'm gonna go finish my book."

And that's exactly what I did. I sat there at my computer for two hours and finished Alex Wesley's story for good. It was only right. Alex was created the day after I met Finn and it seemed fitting that his story should end when ours did.

My manager wouldn't be too thrilled because I knew he wanted to pump at least three more of those out of me. And I knew that my readers would be a bit upset, but ultimately happy with the ending I had given Alex.

Paul was still camped out in the living room when I finally ventured out of the den. Both he and Grams were watching a movie on Turner Classic Movies and eating popcorn. Rex was curled up by Grams' feet and Belle was lying partially on Paul's lap as he stuffed handful after handful of popcorn in his mouth. I laughed as Belle looked at the popcorn longingly, waiting for him to drop a piece, but he never did.

"There you are." Grams smiled. "I was beginning to wonder if you were alright."

"I finished my book." I replied.

Paul smiled through his mouthful of popcorn, "That's great!"

"I mean I really finished it. Alex Wesley's story is over."

His mouth dropped open, a piece of popcorn finally dropping down into Belle's reach. She wasted no time in snatching the kernel up and looked up at Paul licking her lips waiting for more.

"No more Alex Wesley stories?" Paul cried. "But I love those books!"

"I'm sure she has her reasons." Grams interjected.

I nodded, "I do. It seemed only fitting to end his story today. I created him the day after I met Finn for the first time and I've ended his story the same day ours did."

"Poetic." Grams nodded.

"I thought so."

"You're not done writing forever though are you?"

I chuckled, "Don't worry Paul, I'm not done writing. I still have to make money and I have plenty of story ideas floating around in my head."

"Hopefully more stories like Alex Wesley's."

Xxx

When Kim asked me if I would babysit Ben I immediately jumped at the idea. Ben wasn't a baby, but at this point I was willing to take what I could get. Also, there was fact that Ben was a cute and fun little boy to be around. As for Kim and Jared, I had a pretty good idea why they were going out. I was sure that they were celebrating the fact that she was pregnant tonight. She hadn't said anything about it, but I recognized the signs after obsessing about them for months.

So when I caught Jared's hand stray down to her still flat stomach when the two of them dropped Ben off at the house, I smiled knowingly at Kim. She simply nodded her head with a sheepish smile before she turned to Ben to give him the 'you better be good' speech.

"Thanks again Mar, we really appreciate it."

"Hey, never hesitate to call me for your babysitting needs, especially in about nine months." I smirked.

Jared looked up at me in surprise while both Kim and I smiled. Meanwhile Ben was blissfully ignorant to what was going on between us adults as he petted Rex. Thankfully Rex liked children and allowed Ben to tug on both his ears and his tail.

"Alright, you guys go have fun now. Ben and I will be fine."

After they left, Grams made Ben some Mac and Cheese and the three of us sat down to eat it together, Rex sitting patiently on the floor next to Ben's chair. Rex knew better than to beg, so I wasn't worried about that. Although Rex seemed to be a loyal new friend to little Ben, as soon as the front door opened and the sound and probably smell of Paul filled Rex's senses he was gone, his excited barks filling the house.

"Unca Paul!" Ben shouted when he finally walked into the dining room with Rex trailing along happily at his side.

The little boy launched himself out of his chair and towards Paul. His little arms shot up in the air as he looked up at Paul expectantly. Ah, the universal symbol for wanting to be picked up. I could remember doing the same thing to my Dad back when I was little and even to Buck a few times. I smiled as Paul bent down, lifted the little boy easily into his arms and ruffled his hair playfully.

"Are you behaving for Aunt Mar and Grams?" Paul asked Ben with a small smile playing about his lips.

I was a little taken aback by the term 'Aunt' but it did make sense. In fact, I think I might have heard Kim refer to me as that around the kids before. It was probably best that I get used to it, especially considering what would certainly happen in the future between Paul and I.

"Mmmhmm!" Ben replied with an innocent smile.

"What do you think of Rex?" Paul asked as he set Ben back on to the floor right next to Rex.

"I wike him."

The three of us adults laughed at that and my heart melted as Ben wrapped his arms around Rex's neck for a hug. Rex wasn't upset by the contact at all and turned his head so he could lick the side of Ben's face.

"Ew!" He cried.

"He's just giving you kisses, Ben." I chuckled.

Ben pulled away from Rex and wiped at his face furiously. Obviously he did not appreciate having dog slobber on his face and I didn't blame him.

Hours later, Ben was asleep on Paul's lap, the Disney movie we had put in long forgotten as he slept contentedly on his Uncle's chest. Not that I blamed him; Paul was like a personal space heater and with Jared as his father, he was probably used to falling asleep in such a position. I myself was tempted to curl up and fall asleep on his chest. I resisted though and settled for curling up with a blanket on the chair next to the couch.

Kim and Jared arrived a few minutes later and Kim and I watched as the two men carefully exchanged the sleeping little boy.

"They're big softies aren't they?" Kim grinned.

"Oh yeah." I agreed. "So, when are you due?"

"Seven months and I'm praying for a girl. I love my boys, but I want a little girl to dress up in pretty stuff."

"Hopefully you won't have a daughter like Jamie. From an early age she insisted on dressing herself much to my Mom's chagrin. I remember her running around in mismatched outfits from a very early age."

Kim sighed, "That doesn't surprise me about her considering what Paul has told us about her."

I laughed at that because she was right.

"Don't worry though; people like Jamie are one in a million."

That was for sure.


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I don't own! Song credit to MayDay Parade**

**As I am now further into this story I feel I need to tell you that these next chapters are going to be hard for me to write. The characters of Buck and Grams are actually based off of my real life Grandparents who we called Buck and Grams. My Grandparents both passed away this year, within six months of each other, and I felt like I needed to honor them in my own way. Marilyn was my Grams' name and it felt right to give her a Grams of her own. Oh and for the record, my parents are nothing like Mar's…that's just creative license. Thanks again for your reviews and support.

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"_Stay safe stay strong,_

_And I may know you'll be here when I have gone._

_Because I'm coming home, coming home, tonight._

_Let's get this right._

_I said I'm coming home, coming home tonight."_

**Take This To Heart

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**

"_Paul, I need you."_

"_What's wrong? Are you crying?" His voice was panicked and I couldn't blame him for that; I was on the other line of the phone desperately pulling breath in through my mouth trying to breathe through my tears._

"_Say something Mar!"_

"_I'm at the hospital."_

**Hours Before**

"You will not believe the article I happened to stumble upon today!" Jamie laughed into the phone. "It's an article about male obsession with their physique! I printed a copy of it and you better believe I'm going to make you read it."

I rolled my eyes and continued to stir around the meat I was browning for the chili I was making Grams and I. I decided it was best not to try and interrupt Jamie about this subject; she'd only keep bringing it up over and over again.

"Yeah! So, one of the symptoms is a sudden change within a short span of time. Do you know when Paul became all fit?"

"No." I replied. There was no way I was going to tell her that their appearance had changed in a short span of time. While I knew the true reason for that, Jamie would automatically assume that they did suffer from some sort of mental illness or whatever.

"I bet it was quick."

"He could've done it over the course of ten years, Jamie."

"I'm gonna go over to his parent's house next time I'm home and get some picture evidence."

"I'm sure you will." I sighed.

Jamie huffed, "You just wait Miss nonbeliever, I'll prove it to you."

"Alright, I need to go; I'm making chili."

"Ugh, you suck; I want some chili."

"Sucks for you. I'll talk to you later, Jamie."

"Alright, bye."

Despite the fact that I was getting a little tired of her insistence about the guys being affected with some mental disorder, I really was happy that we were closer than we were before. Her decision to break from my parents' financial support had really been a great move for her. She'd always been like this; sarcastic and a little fanatical at times, but it had always been overshadowed by her spoiled demeanor. Now she was only sarcastic and fanatical which usually provided me with a good laugh.

"Was that Jamie on the phone?" Grams asked as she walked into the kitchen, Rex at her heels.

"Yeah, she found an article about guys' obsession with their physique and informed me that she printed a copy specifically for me to read."

Grams laughed, "She won't give up on that will she?"

"Nope."

"So where is Paul today?"

"He's doing the books at Noels today." I replied.

Being the owner of Noels really did have its benefits for Paul. He hardly had to work and he definitely wasn't going in every day either. He'd go in at least a few times a week to monitor things and then there was a day each month that he sat down and did the books in his office at the store.

"I bet he'll be over for some of your chili."

I smiled, "Of course he will. He loved that stuff when we were fifteen and he practically salivated when I told him I was making some tonight. He might be late getting here though. Anyway, you go sit down and let me handle this."

"Okay. Come on Rex, let's go watch a movie."

I smiled as Grams walked out of the kitchen with Rex following faithfully behind her, careful not to get in her way. Paul had trained him to do that; not just with Grams, but with everyone. If he didn't make good money with Noels, I would insist that he advertise his skills as a dog trainer. He'd laughed at that and insisted that any one of the guys would probably have the same success with a dog as he did, but I doubted that. I'd seen Embry with Sally's Poodle, Jelly bean, and there was no way Embry was that fluffy white dog's alpha.

Grams' movie had finished by the time the chili was done. The two of us sat down to eat at the dinner table as Rex went back into the living room to play with one of his squeaky toys.

"This is really good, Marilyn."

"Thanks Grams."

We ate on in silence for a few minutes before Grams' spoon dropped back into her bowl loudly, drawing my attention to my Grandma. Her hands were held out before her on the table while she visibly took deep and concentrated breaths in and out of her lungs.

"Grams, are you alright?"

"No, something is wrong with my heart."

I wasted no time after that statement. Years ago, when I was about nine years old we had almost lost Grams to a heart condition. She had had too much water on her heart, and had been closely monitored since then. So with adrenaline pumping through my veins I ran to the phone. I'd already dialed 911 and had them on the way before I realized that I probably would have been okay to drive her to the hospital, but I didn't want to risk anything. She wasn't having a heart attack, but there was no guarantee something else wouldn't happen before she was at the hospital.

"Calm down, honey. I'm going to be alright." Grams said when I walked back into the dining room to help her outside. I could already hear the sirens coming down the road and paid no attention to our cooling bowls of chili as I led her to the front door.

Xxx

After I hung up the phone I sat back down in one of the crappy waiting chairs to wait for him. While they ran more tests on Grams I had to wait out here all alone, by myself, crying. Every so often I could feel someone's gaze on me; a pitying look.

Then when he finally arrived, I jumped out of my chair and threw my arms around him. My tears had been done for a while, but I held onto him for a long time. Until he finally lifted me up and sat down on a chair with me in his lap.

"I thought there was something wrong with you, Mar. What's going on?"

"It's Grams." I whispered.

"Is she alright?"

"Her heart was out of rhythm. Apparently they've gotten it back in rhythm, but the doctor is running more tests to determine what else needs to be done."

Paul nodded thoughtfully and held me closer. He knew why I was upset because I'm sure he felt it to. Of course for me, Grams was the last person alive that had really truly taken care of me. I couldn't lose her now, not when I needed her the most. Paul had awesome parents, he didn't have mine and he didn't need Grams as much as I did, but I knew he loved her. And I'm sure that since I was his imprint the pain he was feeling was tripled because of my pain.

"Miss Jameson?"

I hurriedly climbed off of Paul's lap and faced the doctor that had addressed me. I knew he was Grams' regular doctor and that made me feel better because I knew how much she liked him. It was easy to see why though, he was an older man with laugh lines carved into his face and he had kind blue eyes.

"Yes?"

"Your Grandma is alright for the moment, but we're going to have to schedule a surgery in a few weeks or more. That's what I want to talk to you about; we need to place a stint in her heart. Considering her age and prior conditions this procedure will be very risky. There's a good chance she won't make it through it."

"And what happens if we don't do it?" I asked as I felt Paul's supporting arm slip around my waist.

"It needs to be done, but not right away. I think we should be okay if it waits until late March."

"Okay."

"We've already talked to your Grandma about it and I'm sure you two will talk about it, but for now you can go back and see her."

Grams was sitting up in bed when Paul and I walked in. She greeted us with a tired smile and held out her hand for me. I smiled back, feeling my eyes water, and went to her bedside to hold her hand within one of my own.

"I'm going to be okay, so I don't want you to worry okay? You either Paul." Grams ordered and squeezed my hand.

She held out her other hand for Paul and I watched as he walked over to the other side of the bed to hold her small wrinkled hands in one of his large tan ones. She smiled contentedly with his warm hand encasing her own and looked back at me with a smile.

"This procedure is going to be nothing, I'll pull through it."

"You better." I warned.

"Like I want to miss the two of you getting married and giving me great grand babies."

My face flushed red at that statement and a shy look aimed at Paul showed the red on his face as well as a little smirk.

Xxx

"I'm coming home!" Jamie cried into the phone.

"No, you need to focus on your classes. She's going to be alright." I assured my baby sister, trying not to let myself cry from the sound of her own tears. "You come the first week of March like we planned okay? If anything changes I promise I'll have Paul come and get you immediately."

"Okay." She sniffed.

After I hung up the phone I moved to the dining room to take care of the bowls of chili we had left. I no longer was hungry for the stuff, but Paul had no problem eating three bowls of it before he kicked his feet up on the coffee table and rubbed his belly contentedly, Rex at his feet.

I had no appetite anymore, especially with Grams still in the hospital. They'd kept her overnight for observation and if all went well, Paul and I were going to pick her up in the morning to bring her home.

"You alright out there?" Paul called from the living room.

"Yeah."

Paul arrived in the kitchen a second later and took the sponge from my hand. "You go sit down; I'll take care of this. Rex looks like he could use a good belly rub from you."

I smiled my thanks and made my way out to the living room where Rex was sprawled out on the floor. When he saw me approaching he rolled over onto his back and presented his tummy to me. I smiled before I crouched down onto the floor to rub his belly vigorously. His leg started kicking when I hit a ticklish spot and I laughed as his eyes closed in contentment.

"You have the best life, you know that Rex?" I sighed. "We feed you nice, play with you and you can sleep all you want without worrying about anything."

"I'm sure he worries about you and Grams though; I trained him to protect you guys." Paul stated as he walked back into the living room.

I quirked a brow at him, "You know what I mean."

Paul chuckled, "So you're saying you want to be a dog? What kind?"

I didn't answer which only caused him to laugh and start guessing dog breeds. "I think you'd be a Weiner dog."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, just wanted to get a rise out of you. So what breed of dog would you be?"

"I'd be a mix. Have the best of both breeds and just be an all around awesome dog. Not to mention cute."

"No doubt about that." Paul agreed with a smile. "I'd be a Siberian husky."

"That doesn't surprise me. You're hardy and hard working just like a Siberian husky as well as smart."

"Those were some nice compliments you just gave me, Mar."

I grinned, "Oh, but I wasn't done. Your fur is just as silky as theirs and your breath is pretty similar."

Paul shot me a look before he swept me up off the floor and into his arms. He threw me down on the couch and started tickling me mercilessly until I was screaming and gasping for air through my laughter. Sadly, he had not forgotten all my ticklish spots over the years.

"Stop! Stop! Can't breathe!"

When he finally did stop I was panting and scowling at him fiercely; he just laughed and sat down next to me. Once I was calmed down I turned to him and just stared at him for a few minutes. He turned to look me in the eye and we just sat like that; the two of us looking into each other's eyes. If anyone walked in at that moment, they'd probably think we were weridos, but it just seemed normal for the two of us. It didn't creep us out; we used to have staring contests all the time.

"Thank you for being there for me today." I whispered.

Paul finally broke our eye contact and wrapped his arms around me for a warm hug. "You're welcome, but you know that I'll always be there for you no matter what. Imprint or no imprint."


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I don't own! Song credit to The All American Rejects**

**Thanks for the reviews!

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"_I'll keep you my dirty little secret…"_

**Dirty Little Secret

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What was left of February passed by way too quickly for my liking, especially with Grams' surgery approaching. There still wasn't an official date set, but the doctor was pretty sure it would be the third or fourth week of March.

At the moment it was the first week of March, which also happened to be Jamie's spring break. She had been desperate to come back for the past few weeks and only my insisting that Grams was fine kept her at school- albeit grudgingly.

So it was no surprise that when she first got home she spent most of the might with Grams in the living room just talking. From the bits and pieces I heard they talked about pretty much everything. I had done the same thing since her hospitalization; I wanted to learn all I could in case there wouldn't be another chance.

Finally, on Jamie's second day Grams insisted that the two of us leave the house and leave her and Rex alone. We agreed grudgingly and headed down to the beach where I knew Paul and his buddies were going to be today, especially since it was sunny out.

"Oh by the way, the guys are going to be at the beach." I stated casually as the two of us walked from the parking lot and towards the beach where the sound of waves could be heard crashing against the shore.

Jamie's head shot up, "Hah! I can assess the situation for myself! See just how out of control this muscle obsession is."

I laughed at that, "Jake is probably going to be there."

"That's nice." Jamie shrugged. "He's probably the instigator of this obsession."

"What makes you think that?"

"He always did like to tell people what to do."

"Did he ever tell you what to do?" I asked with an amused smile.

"Yes."

"And did you listen to him?" Of course I already knew the answer to that question, but I couldn't help but ask anyway.

"Hell no! Like I was going to listen to some snotty thirteen year old boy that thought he was all that. I bet he's even worse now. Didn't you say he was bigger than the rest of them? He probably tells them what to do too and-"

"It's been a long time Jamie Jameson…or should I say JayJay?"

The look on my sister's face was priceless as Jake's words sunk in. She was still looking at me, but she quickly whipped her head around to look at an amused Jacob. When their eyes locked, hers embarrassed and slightly pissed his amused and a bit surprised, Jake's laughter died down.

"Did it not sink in the last time I punched you for calling me JayJay?" Jamie asked calmly once her shock and embarrassment had passed.

Oh how I remembered that day well. Jamie had been sent home early from school for punching Jacob Black. It had been the talk of the town for days and no one knew why she punched him. Finally, one day the suspense killed me and I cornered my sister and made her tell me why. He'd called her JayJay and she absolutely hated it.

"I wouldn't try that again." Jake said seriously and I agreed with a nod of the head. I really didn't want to drive my sister to the ER to get her hand put in a cast.

"Well, Jacob Black, don't call me that name again and we won't have to worry about that will we?" Jamie said with a mockingly sweet smile. "Come on Mar, let's go get a spot."

With that Jamie led me away from a strangely quiet Jacob and towards the large group of males by the shore. I immediately recognized one of the large males and smiled when he turned and jogged over to the two of us.

"You just missed the Jamie and Jacob reunion." I laughed as Jamie scowled at me.

"Shit, I wanted to witness that." Paul sighed. "Oh well, I'll see it later."

"Shh!" I hissed, shooting a look over at Jamie who was currently laying out a sheet on the sand.

The pack mind sharing abilities was something I cared not to even think about. Thankfully there was nothing I was too embarrassed about the guys witnessing in Paul's mind, but I was sure that once our relationship 'began' there would be plenty for the guys to see…and I didn't like it one bit.

"Where did Jake go anyway?" Paul asked curiously as his eyes scanned the beach.

"He was back there a minute ago." I shrugged.

"Not anymore."

"Thank goodness for that; I swear if he calls me JayJay again while I'm here I'm going to break his nose."

"Don't even think about it, Jamie. You'll hurt yourself."

"Shut up, Noels." She grumbled because she knew he was right. "I still think he's the ring leader of your group of muscle obsession."

Paul and I exchanged amused glances. She had no idea just how close she was to the truth. It killed me that I couldn't just tell her, but it was the rules. The less people that knew, the better…for everyone's safety.

"Hey Mar!" Kim called as she approached with Ben holding on to her hand. Once she was close enough she released his hand and the little boy jumped onto Paul's back while he begged him to help him build a sand castle. Paul quickly gave in and picked the boy up, taking him over to where Lilly Uley sat with sandcastle building tools. Kim happily took Paul's seat and turned to me with a smile.

"Hey Kim, this is my sister, Jamie. Jamie, this is Kim."

"I've heard a lot about you." Kim smiled.

"I hope it wasn't anything bad."

I chuckled at that, which earned me a scowl from my little sister.

"Nothing bad." Kim assured her. "So have you seen Jake? He was pretty excited to see you again."

"Oh, we ran into him." Jamie stated.

"Yeah and he disappeared right afterward." I added.

Kim looked at confused at that and a little suspicious, but quickly shook it off. She then turned to me with a grin and asked quite seriously if I wanted to be thrown into the ocean.

"Why would I want to be thrown into the ocean in March?"

"It's an initiation of sorts."

"I'll pass, thanks."

She grinned devilishly and before I knew what was going on I was being lifted up into a pair of arms. As I struggled I realized that the person that had a hold of me was Jared. Paul watched on contentedly from his position in the sand with Lilly and Ben as Jared walked towards the ocean with me in his arms.

"Are you nuts? It's freezing!" I yelled as I grasped onto his neck hoping that my death grip would prevent him from successfully throwing me into the cold ocean. Somehow I doubted that though, but it was my only option at the moment.

"Paul will warm you up." Jared replied. "Look, it's either this or go cliff diving in March. It's up to you."

"Oh wow what great options!"

Jared smirked at that and then with a gentle tug removed my arms from around his neck. In the next moment I was flying through the air, pulling in a deep breath of air into my lungs. With a smack I hit the water. It was freezing! It was even colder than I had been expecting it to be. However, a second after I resurfaced a pair of warm arms wrapped around me and started to drag me back to shore.

"You…are…so dead." I said to Paul through my chattering teeth.

"It was worth it to see your face."

"Asshole."

Paul grinned, "Don't worry, I'll warm you up nicely."

Xxx

There was going to be a bonfire that night for pack members and imprints only. Tonight was the night that I was going to officially hear the legends from Billy Black…in a way it was a part of my initiation into the group. Which was definitely preferable to the dip in the ocean earlier today.

I was currently getting ready for the bonfire in my bedroom, Rex watching on from his position on my bed. I patted his head fondly as I pulled a sweatshirt over my head and spun around quickly when a knock sounded on the door.

"Come in."

Paul walked in with a serious look on his face and shut the door behind him.

"What's wrong?"

"Jacob still hasn't shown up yet." He replied worriedly.

"Why would he just run off like that?"

"I think he imprinted."

"On who?"

"Jamie."

"He can't do that!"

"He can't help it, Mar! Besides, I don't even know if he really did or not, it's just a suspicion."

"Well, what do we do if he did?"

"We'll deal with that if it is true. But for now the two of us need to head over to the bonfire."

"Do you think he'll be there?"

"He better be."

When the two of us arrived everyone else had already arrived, everyone except for Jacob of course. Paul's suspicion that he had imprinted on Jamie was founded by the fact that Jake believed he would never imprint after his history with Bella. In fact, the guys were pretty sure that Jake never really wanted to imprint. So if he did indeed imprint on Jamie today it would make sense for him to run away for awhile to collect his feelings on the situation.

"Where's Jacob?" Billy Black asked from his position around the fire, a plate filled with food in his lap. None of the pack members had been allowed to have food yet, so I figured I needed to get some of my own before they started in. As I walked over to the food table, Paul replied: "We don't know."

"Has something happened?"

"Yes."

However, it was not Paul or any of the other guys that replied, instead it was Jacob clad only in a pair of cut off shorts, both his chest and feet bare. He looked tired and judging by the looks on the guys' faces he probably had been a wolf this whole time, running around.

"What happened?" Billy asked his son.

"I've imprinted." Jacob replied to which everyone except for Paul and I gasped at. "On Jamie Jameson."

"Marilyn's sister?" Embry asked in confusion.

"Yes, but she is not to know." Jacob replied. "I forbid any of you to say anything to her."

"Why not?" I cried.

"She already dislikes me; I will not have her hate me."

"Why would she hate you?" I asked curiously.

"She's in grad school; she'd resent me for messing up her plans and I don't want to take that away from her either."

I kept silent because I knew he was right… to an extent. It was true; Jamie had worked long and hard to get where she was now and I knew she had big plans for after her graduation. She wanted to become a professor of communications and there was no university in close proximity to La Push.

I sighed and relaxed into Paul's embrace as he wrapped an arm around my waist. While I knew he was right, I didn't want my sister to be denied her own protector and love. I didn't know the extent of the benefits of being an imprint yet, but from the content gazes of Kim, Emily and Sally I knew that I had a lot to look forward to. And if Jamie had been chosen as an imprint, didn't she deserve that too?

"I can't tell you what to do, Jacob. But don't think you know how she will react; my sister is full of surprises."

Xxx

"You look tired." Jamie commented as I walked into the living room.

From the looks of it, Grams had already gone to bed. Jamie was curled up on the couch with a book in hand and Rex curled up at her feet on the couch.

"I am." I replied.

"How did the bonfire go? Did Jake ever show up?"

"Yeah."

"Why did he run off anyway? To buy some steroids?"

At the moment I was not in the mood for this topic yet again, "He needed to do some thinking, Jamie. And for the last time, they are not on steroids nor or they obsessed with their bodies okay?"

"Jeez, what happened?"

"Nothing, things just got complicated okay? Don't worry about it. Good night."

I felt bad, but with that said I turned and walked out of the room. A minute later Rex joined me and followed me up the stairs and into my bedroom where he curled up on the bed in his usual place at my feet. I smiled at that; I loved that dog.

"You really do have a great life, Rex."

He just wagged his tail.


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I don't own! Song credit to Paramore**

**This chapter was really hard for me to write and I won't lie…there were a lot of tears involved. That's because this chapter reflects what happened to my own Grams (of course I changed minor details). The main details remain mostly the same. As for the song for this chapter, I know that this song is really supposed to be a love song, but it was the song that was stuck in my head when I heard the news about my Grams and it stuck with me. I've gotten to the point where I don't cry when I hear it anymore, but it will always remind me of my Grams. Anyway, I want to say a special thank you for the few of you who actually take the time to review after each chapter; you guys are the reason I've kept going with this story when it would have been so easy to abandon it…especially when it was time to write this chapter. Oh and Happy Thanksgiving to those of you who celebrate! I certainly will be celebrating, so there will be no more updates until next week… once I'm out of my food coma.

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"_Well you are the only exception,_

_you are the only exception,_

_you are the only exception, _

_you are the only exception._

_I've got a tight grip on reality, but I can't _

_let go of what's in front of me here,_

_I know you'll leave it in the morning when you wake up, _

_Leave me with some kind of proof it's not a dream._

**The Only Exception

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The rest of Jamie's spring break passed by without any sign of Jake. I knew he was purposely avoiding her and I also knew that it had to be killing him. Paul was over here every day for hours at a time and just leaving me for the hours of the night was hard for him. After Jamie was back in Seattle, Jake showed up at the house and spent an hour in her room lying on the bed, his nose buried in the sheets I hadn't washed yet.

It definitely was a sticky situation. It was obvious that everyone else wanted him to tell Jamie what happened or at least for him to have some sort of relationship with her, be it friendship or whatever, but he refused. And because he was the alpha, none of us could do anything.

"You look thoughtful." Grams commented as she joined me at the table where I was slowly eating my breakfast.

I shrugged my shoulders.

"There's something going on with Jacob Black and Jamie isn't there?"

It always amazed me how observant she could be sometimes and I couldn't help but smile at that. "Well, it's more of the fact that there isn't anything going on between them."

She smiled, "I see."

A moment of silence passed between the two of us as I continued to eat my breakfast. Finally after a few spoonfuls of cereal, Grams spoke again.

"You know, once you and Paul settle down and start to have children Jamie will be drawn back here and then maybe things can be as you wish. Personally I'd like to see this sooner rather than later, but I know these things take time."

"Thanks Grams."

"I really would love being a Great Grandma."

"And I'd really love you to be a Great Grandma to my kids, Grams. You've been such a good Grandma to me and I just wanted to say thank you for everything you've done for all of us; Paul, Jamie and me."

"I do it because I love you, and nothing makes me happier than seeing you happy, sweetheart."

I could say nothing as my throat choked up from trying to hold back my tears. Instead I just sent her a watery smile and the two of us continued to sit there in silence until I finally managed to finish my breakfast.

Xxx

I knew Paul would be mad at me, but I needed fresh air. There was nothing like a stroll outside with Rex to help come up with story lines and characters. Thankfully Paul had trained him to actually walk along with me, instead of darting out ahead of me and practically ripping off my arm from holding the leash.

"Maybe I should write something about unrequited love…but then again people expect an adventure like Alex Wesley out of me. But maybe that's exactly why I should write a love story for something new!"

Rex humored me as I continued on talking to myself, stopping every once in a while to sniff something or mark his territory. He really was the best listener.

When the two of us finally got within sight of the house after a half hour walk it was to see flashing lights coming from the drive way. My heart started to race as my footsteps increased, eating up the ground between where I was and the ambulance that most likely contained my Grandmother.

When I rounded the corner around the ambulance it was to see an EMT working frantically to revive Grams, but achieving no result at all.

"We're going to have to ask you to step back ma'am." The other EMT told me, holding a hand out to keep me from getting too close to Grams.

"That's my Grandma!" I yelled back, my heart in my throat and a very upset dog on the end of a leash.

Rex was freaking out just like I was; he could sense something was very wrong and he did not like it. But I didn't want to move away from Grams to put him back in the house, I wasn't going to miss anything.

I watched desperately as the EMT tried one last time.

"Time of death three twenty six."

"No! What happened?" I cried holding on tightly to Rex's leash as the EMTs covered Grams with a sheet.

"We got a call from her life alert at three twenty saying she was having a heart attack. When we got here she was slumped over in the driver's seat of her car. I'm sorry ma'am, we did everything we could."

I was too numb to cry at the moment and I knew I was probably in shock. Grams was dead and she had died all alone in her car.

Xxx

"Paul I need you to come down to the hospital okay?" I asked calmly into the phone the nurse had let me use. I didn't want to tell him over the phone; I was already dreading doing that to my sister.

"What's wrong?" He asked worriedly.

"Please, just come down here."

"Alright."

I didn't have to wait long for him to show up and when he stepped in front of the chair I was seated at I looked up at him calmly and said what I needed to say.

"Grams died this afternoon."

I saw the tears spring to his eyes and lost the small shred of control I had over myself. In the next moment the two of us were wrapped in each other's arms crying our hearts out. It wasn't fair. She shouldn't have been alone when she died and she shouldn't have died anyway! She was supposed to see me get married to Paul and see my babies. She was supposed to have that surgery and be alright.

After the two of us dried our tears as much as we could, we took care of hospital business. We made arrangements for her body and met with the funeral director. And by the time we got home we were both dead tired, but we weren't even done yet. We still had Jamie and everyone else to think of.

"Someone needs to go get Jamie and bring her home." I stated as I grabbed the phone. "I don't want to tell her when she's all alone, but I have to tell her don't I Paul?"

"It needs to be done." He agreed. "I'll send one of the guys to get her. They can run all the way and drive her back in her car."

"No, she needs someone who can comfort her. It has to be Jacob."

"Mar…"

"Paul."

"Fine."

With that he walked out of the house, stripping his shirt off on his way.

I sucked in a steadying breath as I dialed Jamie's number and waited for her to answer her phone. When she finally did, she sounded so damn cheery that my heart broke because I knew I was about to ruin that completely.

"Hey Mar! What's up?"

"Hey Jamie." I said solemnly. "I have some bad news about Grams."

"What happened? Is she back in the hospital?"

"She died this afternoon. She had a heart attack and the paramedics couldn't revive her."

There was silence on the other end of the phone until I heard the sound of her crying. I hated that we were so far away when it mattered most. I hated everything about the entire situation.

"Someone is going to be there to get you soon okay? He's going to drive you and your car down here. Don't ask questions okay? Just pack some stuff and come home to us."

"Okay." She said shakily.

I had mixed emotions about sending Jake to get her, but he really was the best option…I needed Paul too much at the moment to send him. Plus Jacob needed to realize that Jamie was his imprint whether he liked it or not and something as simple as her education wasn't going to stop what he felt.

After I hung up with Jamie I made a quick call to my parents. They were sad and promised they'd be in town for the funeral in two days, but I wasn't holding my breath. They were on some grand vacation and something like his own mother's death wasn't going to stop my Dad from enjoying it.

"Jake's on his way." Paul stated as he walked back into the house shirtless.

Normally I would have taken my time looking him over, but today I just simply threw myself into his warm arms and let him carry me to the couch. We sat there for hours, with me cradled on his lap as he stroked my back and hair and let me cry until I had no tears left to spill.

"It's going to be okay, Mar." He whispered and kissed my head once my tears had turned to sniffles.

"I now have no one to take care of me except for you." I mumbled.

And it was true. Although my parents were alive, they hadn't had any interest in being there for me in a long time. Grams was the last person who was actually a parent to me and now I only had Paul left and that was different. He wasn't my parent or my Grandparent; he was the man who loved me.

"I always have Mar."

"You have." I agreed remembering back to the days of our childhood when Paul had been quick to stand up for me and to defend me against other children and even my parents on a few occasions. He even insisted on helping to take care of me after my emergency appendix removal when we were fourteen. And all of that had been long before he was a shape shifter who imprinted on me.

"I love you Paul." I whispered, feeling my eyes fill up with tears yet again.

"I love you too, Mar. More than you know."

We fell asleep like that on the couch holding each other. We didn't wake up until late in the night when Jamie came bursting through the front door, Jacob following close behind her. Her eyes were red and puffy and from the look on Jacob's face it had been a long drive down.

"Mar!" She cried and threw herself at me after I had successfully untangled myself from Paul's arms. "She can't be gone."

The two wolves left as my sister started to cry into my shoulder, desperately clinging to me as she sobbed. I held back my own tears, I needed to comfort her; it was my job as her older sister to take care of her. So after she quieted down some I led her upstairs to her room where I held her until she cried herself to sleep.

Xxx

"So what happened when you showed up at her place?"

At the sound of Paul's voice I immediately stopped walking and stood behind the doorway into the kitchen where Jacob and Paul were standing and eating some muffins that Grams and I made a few days before. My eyes misted at the thought, but I quickly pushed the memory aside and listened closely to the conversation they were having. Of course...they probably knew I was listening thanks to their wolf senses, but that didn't stop them from continuing on in their conversation.

"She was a mess. It killed me to just stand there and watch her gather her things and do nothing to comfort her, but I could tell she didn't want it. Finally, just as we were about to leave her apartment she looked at me sheepishly and asked if I could hold her for a minute."

"I hope you did, jackass."

"Of course I did, Paul. I may be a monster, but I'm not a heartless monster."

"You're not a monster." I stated as I walked into the kitchen. "You kill monsters."

Paul nodded in agreement, "Jake, you can't try to pretend that she is not your imprint."

"I'm doing what's best for her."

I laughed at that, "Excuse me, but do you really think you know what is best for Jamie? You hardly know her. But you could remedy that by at least trying to be her friend."

"Mar is right. However, all of that can wait until after we've buried Grams and we've all had a chance to recover."

Jake nodded, "Well, I better go then."

"Do you want to say goodbye to Jamie?"

"She's asleep." Jake replied and before I could argue further he was out the back door.

Paul turned to me, "You know I think Grams knew about us wolves and imprinting. Buck had to have told her."

"What makes you think that?"

"Just some things I found in her closet this morning." Paul replied and gestured towards the kitchen table where two boxes sat. One was marked Paul and Marilyn Noels and the other was labeled Jacob and Jamie Black.

My eyes widened at the sight, "What's in them?"

Paul shrugged, "I think it's only fair that we wait until you are a Noels and Jamie a Black."

"What if that day never comes?"

Paul quirked his brow at me with an amused grin. "Come on, Grams knew what she was doing."


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I don't own! Song credit to We the Kings**

**Thanks for the feedback on the last chapter, I really appreciated it. Just to let you guys know…this story is going to come to a close soon, but as of right now I have plans on continuing on with Jamie and Jake's story…if you're interested.

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"_When the lights go out_

_We'll be safe and sound_

_We'll take control of the world like it's all we have to hold on to_

_And we'll be a dream."_

**We'll Be a Dream

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The day of Grams' funeral was hard for me as I predicted, but the day after was worse. Jamie had to go back to school and Paul had to go back into work, which left me all alone in the house with Rex with nothing to distract me from the empty place Grams had left behind.

She was everywhere in the house. Every way I turned was another reminder of her until I finally decided to quit trying to hide from the memories and embrace them. So I decided to go into her bedroom. I'd only been in the room once since her death and that was to pick out an outfit for her to wear in her casket.

It was just as she left it, the bed neatly made, the clothes hamper situated in the corner full of unwashed clothes. With a small smile I went to lie on the bed and breathed in the smell that was so clearly Grams. It would fade over time and I would never smell it again, so I knew I needed to savor it while I could.

I laid there for a long time, enveloped by her scent until I finally sat up and looked over at her nightstand. There was a picture of us kids in the middle. Paul and I had to be ten, our arms slung around each other's shoulders, and Jamie in the front sticking her tongue out at the camera like the little brat she was. Next to that picture was a picture of Buck, Grams, Jamie and I at my wedding. A quick glance around the room showed that there were no pictures of Finn in sight, when I knew for a fact that she had had a few before. I laughed at that; Grams never was one to cause awkward situations.

Looking back at the nightstand, I reached out and opened the drawer. Inside were some pill bottles, a pair of old glasses, a notebook, and a letter addressed to me. My heart started to race as I carefully lifted the letter out of the drawer and unfolded it.

_My Dearest Granddaughter Marilyn,_

_If you are reading this then I have obviously not made it through the surgery. Know that my death is not your fault and there was nothing you could do to prevent it. My time has come and I have to say that although I would love nothing more than to see you and Jamie have children, my heart longs to see my husband again._

_There is more to why I have written you though. You are a strong intelligent young woman, but I feel like you need a push in the right direction. If you ever had any doubt whether or not I knew the truth behind Paul, know that I did know just as I do about Jacob Black and Jamie. As for Jamie it is your job to see that through. However, you and Paul have always been my responsibility._

_Buck and I were friends before we started to date; we were very good friends. And from that we formed a fantastic marriage. You need to do the same; you need to move out of this limbo you have stuck yourself and Paul in. I know that you know you will be with him like that someday, but if you look deep inside yourself you will see the truth. You are ready to take that step with him, Marilyn. Don't waste any more of your life waiting. Be happy and loved while you can, sweetheart._

_All I ask is that you do the same for Jamie as I have hopefully done for you. She'll need the push more than you._

_Love,_

_Grams_

Tears were rolling down my cheeks when I finished reading the letter. I folded it back up carefully and left her room and into my own where I placed the letter in my bedside table.

As usual Grams was right.

Xxx

That night I had a dream. I had many dreams that night, but only one stood out in particular. Most of my dreams were weird. Like the one time I dreamed about swimming through the Appalachian Mountains with my crush of the time, or the time I dreamed about pirate ninjas. However, this dream was weird in a much different way.

In the dream I walked into a crowded restaurant where Buck and Grams stood up at the front of the line waiting for me. They quickly summoned me over and I fought my way through the crowd to their side. To the waiter Buck said very clearly that there were three in their party now that their granddaughter had joined them. The three of us shared a smile and then my dream switched away from them and to something weird once again.

"I dreamed about Buck and Grams last night." I told Paul as he walked into the house with Belle trailing along obediently behind him. She immediately ran over to greet Rex, who in turn sniffed her butt. We left the two of them in the living room and headed into the dining room where I had some food laid out for him and myself.

"I think it was them communicating with me." I continued. "Like to kind of tell me fair well and that everything is going to be okay...that they're together."

He was quiet for a minute as he scooped some food into his mouth.

"You think I'm being silly."

"No, I don't. I've heard that sometimes that does happen; the dead showing up in your dreams like that to make a last contact with you."

"She left me a letter. I found it in her room."

"What did it say?"

"That I needed to allow our relationship to progress like it's supposed to."

Paul was strangely quiet after that, but he held my gaze. In his eyes I could see his hope that I would do as Grams suggested.

"She's right. What reasons are there for us to continue on the way we are when we both want something more? When nature wants us to have something more? I'm over Finn; there is no reason to stop us."

Paul smiled widely at that and scooped some more food in his mouth. I shook my head at him; the wolf boys and their food.

"So then…what do we do? Date?" Paul questioned once his food was swallowed.

"The point of dating someone is getting to know them and we already know everything about each other."

"Well, we can't just get married."

"Technically we could."

Paul's eyes grew wide.

I laughed, "We could, but we shouldn't. We need to have some sort of courtship, but I've done the whole dating thing before and really don't want to travel down that road again."

He was thoughtful for a minute before he spoke: "How about from this point on we are a couple and when the time is right we take it to the next level. If you don't want to go on dates that's fine, I prefer just hanging out with you anyway."

I smiled, "So should we kiss to seal the deal?"

"This isn't a business transaction, Mar."

I chuckled and got up out of my chair. I walked over to him and sat down gingerly on his lap. A small smirk appeared on his lips as I wound my arms around his neck and leaned in towards him.

"So I can call you my girlfriend now?"

"Yes, now kiss me."

He did not disappoint.

Xxx

"Hey Mar."

I looked up to see a very satisfied Kim walking my way pushing her cart with Ben seated in the front. I immediately knew what her grin was about. It had only been a few days ago that Paul and I had our relationship discussion that had ended in a ten minute make out session at the dinner table. The only thing that interrupted us was the dogs, otherwise I was sure it probably would have lasted longer and possibly become more heated.

"So I heard some good news."

"Yeah, I'm sure you have." I chuckled.

"You guys are official now."

"Yup."

"Now we have to wait for your sister and Jake to get together."

"I think we may be waiting a while for that, they're both really stubborn."

Kim rolled her eyes, "Yeah. Well, on another note I wanted to tell you that if you need help going through your Grandma's room and stuff I'm willing to help."

"Thank you Kim, I think I'll take you up on that offer. It's probably best that I'm not in there alone while I do that."

She nodded her hand in understanding and grabbed Ben's wandering hand before he could grab some candy off of the shelf beside us. He pouted, but said nothing as his mother continued to look and talk to me. "I helped Jared's Mom after her Mother died two years ago. So I know a great place we can donate her things."

"Thank you, I really appreciate everything you guys have done."

"You know it's no problem, we're all one family."

I smiled in return, "And remember that I'll be your babysitter any time."

"Speaking of babies…there is nothing stopping you and Paul from starting on your own."

"Well there is the fact that we aren't married." I pointed out with a smile.

"That never stopped anyone before. Let me just warn you, one time with one of the wolf boys is enough to do the job if you get my drift. If Finn's swimmers were weaklings, Paul's will be freaking superheroes fighting for the right to fertilize your egg."

"Kim! Keep your voice down." I hissed as I frantically looked up and down the aisle to make sure no one had overheard our embarrassing conversation.

"I'm serious Mar; it only took one time without my regimen of prevention products to get me pregnant with Ben and this baby!"

"What do you mean regimen of prevention products?"

Kim shot me a look, "I mean that we girls figure that if they're super human, then one simple product isn't going to deter their swimmers."

"How many do you use?" I asked with a quirked brow. When I was married to Finn I'd only taken birth control, which I went off as soon as we decided we wanted a baby. I still had yet to go back on it, but judging from the things Kim was saying I knew I probably needed to fix that soon.

"Well I may have over exaggerated a little bit. We use two preventatives and I make him withdraw."

"That sucks."

Kim nodded in agreement, "It'll get better when he quits phasing though. He told me he wants to retire after this baby is born just like Sam did. And according to Emily, they get by with only her on the pill now."

"Well that's a relief." I sighed. "But I don't think I'll need to worry about any of that for a while anyway."

Kim shot me a skeptical look, "Hmm okay."

"Shut up Kim."

A few minutes later the two of us went our separate ways; Kim to the front of the store to check out and me to the dairy section to pick up some milk. I was looking through expiration dates when I felt a pair of warm hands rest on my hips.

"I heard your conversation back there with Kim." Paul whispered into my ear, his hot breath fanning across my ear and neck which caused a shiver to race down my spine. My face flushed at the thought that he had heard what Kim had been saying. Stupid Kim.

"Yeah, what of it?" I asked nonchalantly.

"I just wanted to tell you that I'll quit phasing whenever you want me to."

I smiled at his thoughtfulness, not only for turning the conversation away from something embarrassing for me, but for offering up a major piece of his life for sacrifice.

"I don't think you need to worry about that any time soon."


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I don't own! Song credit to The Maine**

**Well this is the last chapter, but I've already started writing Jamie and Jake's story and it pretty much starts up where this one leaves off. So if you're interested in that, it'll be up in a few days (hopefully…my finals week is coming up soon) and I'm pretty excited about it so far. Thanks again to everyone who took the time to review and add this story to their alerts/favorites.

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"_So walk back home on every road  
On every road we cross alone  
We're thinking of those we left back home  
So follow the lines and I'll be your guide  
Cause were the lucky ones on every road."_

**Every Road

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Jamie was coming home for the summer and I could tell that Paul and I weren't the only excited ones. Jake tried to hide his smile when Paul told him the news, but I caught it. Unfortunately he was still set in his ways and didn't want to ruin her future with imprinting, but I had a feeling that the summer was going to bring about a lot of changes around here. For one thing, Jamie would be finishing her degree online over the summer here in La Push.

It was early May when Jamie's classes ended and she packed up her car and headed to La Push to the house that I currently shared with Paul, Rex and Belle. Paul had insisted on moving in after two weeks of us being together and although we shared a bed, nothing had happened yet. Kim hated that. With her pregnancy hormones in full effect she loved talking about sex all the time and unfortunately I was the one who had to hear most of it. Hearing about Jamie's theory on the guys' muscle obsession would be a nice break after the crazy pregnant lady sex talks I had been forced into lately.

It was Jamie's first morning in La Push and Kim and I were sitting on the porch having yet another sex talk. As usual Kim was trying to persuade me to get an early start on the baby making process and she was winning. My desire to have a baby had not waned with my divorce from Finn or with Grams' death, if anything my desire had only grown stronger. But despite Paul's wolf instincts to get me pregnant as soon as possible, I wasn't sure if that's what human Paul really wanted yet.

"I'm just saying that no one is going to persecute you if you happen to have your baby a few months early, Mar." Kim grinned and then continued on with a wink, "In fact I think we'd all be happy to welcome an early baby."

"She's right." Jamie stated as she walked out onto the porch with Rex and Belle at her heels.

My eyes lingered on Belle longer than usual. Maybe it was just me, but she seemed to be getting a little fat. The two of them were fed and exercised equally so how was it that she looked about ten pounds heavier?

Jamie followed my gaze to the dog and I watched as a smile lit up her face, "I think Belle is pregnant! Either that or Paul has been feeding her one too many beggin' strips."

"Oh my gosh, she is Mar!" Kim laughed.

"Shit, I knew we needed to get Rex into the vet to get fixed." I sighed.

Jamie smirked, "This is a sign, Mar. You need to have a baby to play with the puppies."

"Oh my gosh, seriously?" I rolled my eyes and beckoned Belle over. I rubbed my hands over her belly and confirmed our suspicions. She was pregnant…this was not the work of beggin' strips.

"How is it that the dogs beat you two to the punch?" Kim laughed, her hand cradling her swollen belly.

I chose to leave that one unanswered.

Thankfully Jared came to fetch Kim shortly after that which left Jamie and I alone on the porch with the two dogs. Paul would be getting off of patrol soon and when he did he would be scheduling Rex's appointment to get fixed and Belle's to get checked out.

"Their puppies are going to be so cute." Jamie stated with a smile.

"True…we'll have to keep at least one."

"And give one to me of course."

"Of course; and another to Kim and Jared."

"Obviously."

"What are you two talking about?" Paul asked as he walked up the stairs onto the porch. He sat down next to my chair and smiled when both dogs immediately came to his side to be petted.

"Hey Paul, notice anything about Belle?" Jamie asked curiously.

"No."

"Come on, look real close."

The two of us watched as Paul's eyes narrowed in on Belle's belly and the possessive way Rex seemed to be watching over her as Paul examined her.

"She's pregnant."

"Yes, which means it's time for Rex to get fixed." I replied.

Paul laughed at that, "I don't see why we can't wait and see how well the puppies sell."

"I like the way you think Noels." Jamie stated. "But my puppy is free."

Xxx

Belle's pregnancy really had me thinking even more about having a baby of my own. Did I really want to get pregnant before the two of us were married? What would Grams say if she were alive? If I really thought about it though, I think I knew the answer to the question. While I knew that she would welcome any baby, I was sure that she would prefer if the two of us were married. However, that wasn't exactly in the cards at the moment.

Not that I wouldn't marry him; if he asked I would say yes. But I wasn't about to bring the idea up, he needed to be the one to ask.

However, babies weren't the only thing on my mind at the moment either. In the week that my sister had been home I had spotted Jake lurking about the woods that surrounded the house on more than one occasion. It was obvious that he was desperate to be around her, but he was forcing himself to suffer with only brief glimpses and her faint smell.

It was pathetic, and really starting to annoy the hell out of me. I wasn't dumb though; I knew that my sister was not ready for a relationship of that intensity with him. However, she deserved his friendship and I hated that he was denying both of them the opportunity for something great that didn't have to involve romance.

Sadly it seemed that most of the other wolves had given up trying to nonchalantly talk sense into their alpha. Obviously it was going to take a woman…an imprint…to get the job done. So when I spotted him in the woods in the back of the house where Jamie's window happened to be, I walked out of the house and headed in his direction.

He saw me coming right away, but didn't move or remove his gaze for more than a second from the second story window where he could see my sister dancing around to some song she was obsessed with at the moment. I chuckled a bit at the fact that she would be embarrassed if she knew we were watching her spin around and sing. However, I personally was sick of the damn song, so I didn't care too much that I was seeing her act like a weirdo. But, if I had to continue to hear that song much longer, I'd have to repeat the Hercules tape incident from our childhood and feign ignorance when she tried to find it.

"You're being pretty stupid you know." I began once I was close enough to the pathetic looking alpha.

"I didn't want to imprint you know, I would have been happy if I never did."

"You're an alpha, you had to know that you would imprint one of these days."

He nodded, "I hate it, I hate the whole situation, but I can't hate her."

"Maybe that's why you should just be her friend." I suggested. "Look I don't know your history with that Bella chick, but you can't let her ruin the rest of your life. I'm not saying you need to have some sort of romantic relationship with Jamie right away because she's not ready for that, but I see the opportunity for you two to be good friends. And I think both of you need that friendship."

He was quiet as he digested my words, his eyes still trained on Jamie's window. When a few minutes had passed and he still had said nothing, I turned and headed back towards the house, leaving Jake in the woods staring longingly at my little sister.

Xxx

"I want to talk to you before you fall asleep." Paul whispered from beside me in bed.

I pushed the covers off of me and sat up in bed, so I wouldn't be tempted to fall asleep while my boyfriend talked to me. I'd done it once before and he had been seriously offended the next morning. Of course it had only taken once kiss to make him forget all about it.

"Alright."

"You want a baby." He stated.

"I did, but-"

"Shut up, I know you do." He smiled. "And I want a baby too. So let's make one…right now. I know you still haven't gone back on the pill and chances are, if my nose is right, that we can conceive tonight."

"Paul!"

"What?"

"But we're not married."

"So? We can be in a few months." He replied as he pulled a ring off of his bedside table to present to me. "I know this isn't some grand proposal, but I love you Mar. I want us to be a family and that includes a baby."

I smiled into his warm brown eyes. He was so sexy when he was sentimental. While he stared at me in anticipation of my answer I moved over and straddled his lap, his hands immediately coming to rest on my hips. "I don't need a grand proposal, Paul, I already had that once. This is perfect…this is us."

I held out my left hand and smiled as he slipped the simple white gold engagement ring on my finger. The diamond was smaller than my first engagment ring that was currently nestled in my jewelry box waiting for the day I would give it to my daughter, but I liked Paul's better. It meant more than Finn's ever would and would remain on my finger forever. Just like Paul would remain at my side forever.

"So what about the baby idea?"

"Kim will say I told you so, but I guess I'm okay with that." I smirked before I wrapped my arm around Paul's neck and pulled his lips down onto mine for a kiss.

Xxx

Jamie's eyes narrowed in on me immediately the next morning. She continued to stare at me as I poured myself a bowl of cereal and sat down next to her at the table. I was almost to the point of asking what was wrong with her when she finally spoke.

"You look different this morning." She stated right before her gaze locked in on my left hand.

"He proposed!" She screamed. "And oh my gosh you two had sex last night didn't you? That's what that noise was! And it explains the satisfied smirk on your face."

My face turned red at that and I busied myself with scooping cereal into my mouth with my spoon. Jamie didn't say anything else on the matter, but that didn't stop her from sending satisfied smirks my way. I was sure that once I left the kitchen she would grab the phone and call Kim to tell her the news. Knowing the two of them they probably had a bet on how long it would take.

"All teasing aside, Mar, I'm really happy for you; Paul is a great guy."

I smiled at my little sister, who I hoped someday would be in the same position as I was with her own wolf, and replied: "Thank you Jamie, you have no idea how much that means to me."

Jamie chuckled a little, "Too bad Grams isn't alive to collect her twenty bucks."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I guessed that it would take you guys until next Christmas, and Kim guessed September, but Grams was pretty much spot on."

**To be continued…**


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